Some are suggesting this sting was a possible publicity stunt to raise awareness of child enticement issues while others believe the trials could take too much of Miss America’s time to prosecute. Either way you may question the motive. Was it a ratings ploy or is there sincere interest in protecting children?
At first after reading this comment you had to wonder what was bad about the arrests of 13 “predators” using similar tactics to NBC’s Dateline show “To Catch a Predator”.
“I think the whole thing is a disgrace and an embarrassment to law enforcement,” said Richard Klein, a criminal law professor at Touro Law Center in Huntington. “To set people up and the way that it’s done for ratings on TV shows, it’s just really disgraceful, a waste of time and shameful in so many ways.”
Even as a supporter of such tactics, it does make you scratch your head when offenders are given probation or possibly in this case may not be prosecuted at all. In a Harris County Georgia Dateline “To Catch a Predator” last summer the sentences were comprised of prison terms and probation. The operation netted twenty arrests.
- Jacob Joseph Cason, 31, Nashville, Ga., four years in prison and six on probation, for attempted child molestation July 27, and 15 years on probation, consecutive to the other sentence, for attempting to entice a child for indecent purposes.
- John Adam Daniels, 25, Bainbridge, Ga., five years to serve and five on probation, for attempted child molestation July 22, and 10 years on probation, consecutive, for attempted statutory rape.
- David Charles Hilbish, 38, was sentenced to six years to serve and four on probation for attempted child molestation July 22, followed by 15 years on probation, consecutive, for attempting to entice a child for indecent purposes.
- William Bryor Rowell, 35, Conyers was sentenced to six years to serve and four on probation for attempted child molestation July 26, and 10 years on probation, consecutive, for attempted statutory rape.
- Brian Joshua Lindsey, 24, Milledgeville, Ga., five years to serve and five on probation for attempted child molestation on July 21, and 10 years on probation, consecutive, for attempted statutory rape.
It is a far cry from sentences handed down when the show aired from Long Beach, California.
In the America’s Most Wanted version, according to Fox News, prosecutors have said Miss America, Lauren Nelson may not testify against the men she helped arrest in an undercover sex sting. The AMW website comments.
Setting The Record Straight:
“America’s Most Wanted has a 20-year history of working in close partnership with law enforcement. It’s unfortunate that a newspaper reporter, for reasons only he knows, has chosen to distract attention from the issue we highlighted in our show of April 28: sexual predators are lurking online, and we as a society must do all that we can to stop them and to protect our children.
“Despite the information to the contrary that appears in an article in Newsday, according to the Miss America Organization neither Lauren Nelson nor her representatives have told the Suffolk County District Attorney — or anyone else — that she would refuse to testify in any of the cases in which she participated. We don’t know why the D.A. would make the comments attributed to him without knowing all of the facts.
“It is important to note that the Suffolk County Police were in charge of every aspect of the investigation that was featured in our broadcast. The accused predators who were arrested during the taping of this episode of America’s Most Wanted were taken into custody at the discretion of the Suffolk County Computer Crimes Unit.
“We believe that our work speaks for itself, and we believe in letting the legal system take its course.” –The Producers of America’s Most Wanted
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