Arapahoe County Police Officers consider themselves “proactive” when they set up sting operations for crimes like Prostitution and Internet Luring of a Child. Police officers will pretend to be a prostitute, or child, and arrange a meeting with whoever takes the bate. Their intentions, to catch a would-be offender before there is an actual child victim, are sometimes questionable, as sting operations open up opportunities for people to be charged with a serious sex crime, people who may not have pursued an illicit meeting had the police not played a role. If it applies to your case, Entrapment can be a viable affirmative defense to the charges against you after a sting operation.

Definition of Entrapment in Douglas County

In Douglas County and throughout Colorado, the definition of Entrapment is this:

“The commission of acts which would otherwise constitute an offense is not criminal if the defendant engaged in the proscribed conduct because he was induced to do so by a law enforcement official or other person acting under his direction, seeking to obtain evidence for the purpose of prosecution, and the methods used to obtain that evidence were such as to create a substantial risk that the acts would be committed by a person who, but for such inducement, would not have conceived of or engaged in conduct of the sort induced. Merely affording a person an opportunity to commit an offense is not entrapment even though representations or inducements calculated to overcome the offender's fear of detection are used.” (C.R.S. 18-1-709)

Internet Luring of a Child – Police Stings in Mesa County and Jefferson County

One story from earlier this year was when a man in Grand Junction was convicted of Internet Luring of a Child and Attempted Sexual Assault on a Child after an FBI agent posed as a 14-year-old boy, and they arranged an illicit meeting. In June, another man was arrested and charged with Attempted Sexual Assault on a Child, Internet Luring, and Internet Sexual Exploitation of a Child after planning to meet an undercover Lakewood detective posing as a 14-year-old girl.

Internet Luring of a Child Definition in Adams County

In Adams County, Internet Luring of a Child is defined as:

“An actor commits internet luring of a child if the actor knowingly communicates over a computer or computer network, telephone network, or data network or by a text message or instant message to a person who the actor knows or believes to be under fifteen years of age and, in that communication or in any subsequent communication by computer, computer network, telephone network, data network, text message, or instant message, describes explicit sexual conduct as defined in section 18-6-403 (2)(e), and, in connection with that description, makes a statement persuading or inviting the person to meet the actor for any purpose, and the actor is more than four years older than the person or than the age the actor believes the person to be.” (C.R.S. 18-3-306)

Denver Criminal Defense Attorney for Internet Luring of a Child

If you are facing charges for Internet Luring of a Child, it is of vital importance that you have an experienced criminal defense lawyer on your side. Charges like this can impact your future, and have the possibility of Indeterminate Sentencing. Whether or not Entrapment was involved, be smart and exercise your right to remain silent if contacted by police. Call our Denver attorneys today at 303-830-0880. Together, We can protect your future.

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