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Perverted Injustice

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SoupNazzi

As many of you have probably seen on Dateline, NBC, Dateline and Perverted Justice teamed up with local police departments around the country and initiated a bunch of sex-predator stings last year.


One of these stings was held last year in Murphy, TX (Pop. 11,000). Murphy is the town that borders mine in the suburbs of Dallas, TX.


When residents of Murphy found out about the sting, a minority of them went ape-shit. Organized by a city-councilman looking for face-time on camera, they criticized; the Chief of Police, the City Manager, Perverted Justice, and Dateline NBC. They complained:


1. That this sting was attracting sex predators to Murphy, TX. (The majority of those arrested were from the Dallas Metroplex).

2. That the sting made the neighborhood less safe. (Really? I mean, do you really think that predators are going to visit Murphy after they hear that the police there run stings?)

3. That the sting endangered the children in the neighborhood where the sting was held. (Um... cameras everywhere and police hiding all over the place. Explain this one to me.)

4. That the sting would lower property values. (Weak. Priorities people!)


Now, don't get me wrong, I understand the concern regarding some of those questions, but honestly, what is the big picture? Busting sex pedophiles in a focused sting? Or letting them be free to target victims in whatever town they wish?


Anyways, during the sting, 23 men were arrested. A 24th was supposed to show up, but didn't, so Police went to his house with a search warrant, and were about to bust into his house, when he committed suicide. This individual was a former Assistant District Attorney for one of the neighboring counties. A former Chief Felony Assistant District Attorney. Who had resigned in 2002 to run for Judgeship.


Anyways, fast-forward to this past friday.


Headline:


COLLIN COUNTY DA THROWS OUT CASES FROM MURPHY SEX STINGS
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/060107dnmetmurphy.4f7f84e.html


What the fuck?
Not a couple of the cases. ALL of them. All 23.


Reason? Lack of Evidence.


Again. WHAT. THE. FUCK?


In Texas, those that solicit sex from a child, don't have to act on the solicitation in order to be arrested. The internet chat is enough.


Yet, 23 men showed up physically to solicit the sex. After being arrested, many of them confessed. What evidence is lacking?


Not only that, this is not the first sting that Perverted Justice has done in Murphy. Just the first one they have done with Dateline NBC in tow.


6 months earlier, Murphy and Perverted Justice teamed up for a sting and busted 4 men. Of those 4 men, 2 have already been convicted. One in Federal court, and the other by Dallas County. The same evidence gathered for the second sting was very similar to the evidence, if not exactly similar, to that collected in the first sting. Yet, the Collin County DA drops the charges.


The cases were not even submitted to a Grand Jury. I mean, at least let a Grand Jury decide, and take your chances in court. But nope.


As stated on the Perverted Justice website:


You couldn't gift-wrap cases any better than these are. There's a virtual bow on them with a tag that says "easy." That's just three examples, we have 21 more examples. Individuals who transmitted pornography via web cam, that sent pornography, that spoke of creating child pornography with what they thought were underage children. Individuals that were shown admitting their guilt on national TV, both to Chris Hansen and to the police during interrogations. The same evidence used in the same manner to convicted others in Texas and hundreds around the country. The. Same. Evidence.


http://www.perverted-justice.com/opinions/?article=20


Now, 23 pedophiles are back on the street. 23 pedophiles can have their records expunged, and there will be no mention what-so-ever of them ever having been arrested for soliciting sex from a minor. Except, their names are in news articles on the internet. Thank god for one small favor. Hopefully future employers will Google their names.


They say Everything is Big in Texas. I'd disagree. There seem to be a few small minds.


EDIT: Just and FYI. With the exception of the Murphy sting. Perverted Justice has had a 100% conviction rate in regards to the stings it coordinates with Dateline NBC and has convicted almost 200 people so far.

Comments (10)

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Robbway·
I personally think sting operations are entrapment, BUT they followed up on those arrested at the end of the story and it turns out many were REPEAT offenders with records, despite their (fake) acts of begging for mercy. I don't know if this was the right way to do this, but you can't deny the results.\r
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TDrag27·
Sounds a little corrupt...
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Lithium·
BURN THEM BUUUUUURRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNN!!!!!\r \r I thought you couldn't get away with JACK in Texas... Man people are freakin' morons this day and age! The world is goin' to the toilet.\r \r Enough ranting....\r \r Its not entrapment if the offenders are actively searching for it, make the suggestions/demands themselves, and are not coersed into making such suggestions or demands. If they are stupid enough to do this shit and think they can get away with it then thats their mistake.
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CofC·
That they didn't prosecute is suspicious and disturbing.
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LtBlarg·
WOW. Unbelievable that they were not prosecuted.
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Zikan·
Sounds like some folk 'round you need killin'
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Brad·
That's just BS - perverted justice knows what they need for convictions and they do their homework. They are not new to this type of thing and there was no difference in that episode's content than any other (I saw that one where the guy ends up killing himself).\r \r As far as entrapment - the \"kids\" that talk online know that the rules - they don't ask for naked pics or to meet - it's the individual talking with them that wants to do those things... and though it may not be a crime in some places to have sexually explicit chat online with minors, or may be difficult to prove... there is no doubt to the intent of a person showing up to the home where a minor lives after engaging in that type of chat...\r \r who are you protecting Texas?
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Raider30·
Brad - actually Perverted Justice doesn't always make the best choices. This is why ICAC(Internet Crimes Against Children) basically shuns them and encourages all the members on its regional affiliates and the locals associated with them to refuse to work with PJ. The rules regarding digital evidence, entrapment and safety are complicated and PJ doesn't have a great track record for following them.\r \r For instance PJ hasn't, in many cases(including I believe the Murphy, TX cases) recorded ALL conversations between the undercover 'victim' and the suspect. This of course leaves a wide open defense. PJ has also used pictures and names of *actual* children when doing online stings - without the permission of the child(not that that matters, real life kids should NOT ever be used).\r \r Also SoupNazzi, PJ does not have a 100% conviction rate. In fact at least one state, Arizona, found their methods to be so poorly documented(and in the child enticement game documention is EVERYTHING), that the state legislature passed a law banning non-lawenforcement persons from conducting such 'sting' operations. The cases, if I recall correctly, were dismissed.\r \r Believe me folks, I'm not on the side of the perverts, I'm in law enforcement and I've actually had the training(over 80 hours to date) on going after these guys, but there's a right way and a wrong way to conduct business.
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Raider30·
Brad - actually Perverted Justice doesn't always make the best choices. This is why ICAC(Internet Crimes Against Children) basically shuns them and encourages all the members on its regional affiliates and the locals associated with them to refuse to work with PJ. The rules regarding digital evidence, entrapment and safety are complicated and PJ doesn't have a great track record for following them.\r \r For instance PJ hasn't, in many cases(including I believe the Murphy, TX cases) recorded ALL conversations between the undercover 'victim' and the suspect. This of course leaves a wide open defense. PJ has also used pictures and names of *actual* children when doing online stings - without the permission of the child(not that that matters, real life kids should NOT ever be used).\r \r Also SoupNazzi, PJ's quote on the website is worded in a very interesting way. \"- We have a 100% conviction rate of those who have had charges brought against them.\" Notice they don't mention the fact that there are agencies unwilling to use information from PJ. The reader is left with a very different impression about PJ and its cases. In fact at least one state, Arizona, found their methods to be so poorly documented(and in the child enticement game documention is EVERYTHING), that the state legislature passed a law banning non-lawenforcement persons from conducting such 'sting' operations. \r \r Believe me folks, I'm not on the side of the perverts, I'm in law enforcement and I've actually had the training(over 80 hours to date) on going after these guys, but there's a right way and a wrong way to conduct business.
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Raider30·
Sorry for the double post, went to change something I had written and didn't like the wording but couldn't figure out how to edit.