Clearing the air on dentist and Drexel student sex charges

I noticed that there is a common thread among many of the comments on the “N.J. dentist, Drexel student charged…” article I wrote for the Daily News. See the article below, or for the article and comments, go here. The theme basically goes that since this was a sting, the dentist and student weren’t actually preying on anyone, just trying to. Does this really constitute a crime?

Yes, according to Sgt. Marren, who I quoted in the article. As I tried to convey, the officers never goad the alleged predators into sexual conversations. Instead, they always play it passively, and follow the other person’s lead. So, they are not trying to “trap” an innocent person, although I think it’s hard to argue for the innocense of anyone who enters into a sexual conversation with a minor, goaded or not.

It’s similar to the flawed logic of the “Rihanna must have done something to warrant the beating she got from Chris Brown” argument. Just as at no point short of legitimate physical threat is beating another person warranted, it is never OK to talk sexually to a minor, and certainly not OK to propose, or agree to, meeting for sex.