LE and Entrapment Laws in the U.S

[Vanessa Valentine]

Does anyone know where (online) I can find a list of the U.S states which have entrapment laws (meaning: a police officer is allowed to have sex with a call girl AND THEN arrest her), etc?

Thank you!

Vanessa

 

[madmax]

Vanessa, the question is really about the willingness of the courts to allow the entrapment defense to be used to throw out a convinction, say, for prostitution. Any state law of the type you refer to would be ruled unconstitutional, since it is a clear violation of Federal Law. The question is which states allow the most latitude for their undercover cops to engage in deceptive behavior of the sort you mention. Florida is especially well-known for pushing the limits of acceptable police undercover work regarding the sex industry. You can find the rudiments of U.S. Federal Law's acceptance of the "entrapment defense" at the following website:

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/criminal_law/42164

PM me if you have more questions.

 

[ocean976124]

I'm no lawyer but from what I understand, the entrapment defense in the US is rarely accepted by the courts....

 

[homonger]

If this is a common practice then I would imagine there'd be a lot of cops volunteering to work vice!

 

[WhaWhaWha]

it is
there are

 

[homonger]

Dammit! Another misguided career choice on my part.

 

[ham2004]

Based on the United States Federal Statue of Civil Law, every state has the right to pursue criminal activity to the best of their ability.

Enforcement of the Ricco Act, (anti-organized crime) is often associated with the profession of Prositution.

The laws of entrapment are grey in the area of prositution in the states. Entrapment would be deemed to have occured only if the said act could not be anticipated. (ie) the parties were involved or engaged in a illegal activity and therefore the LE failed to give resonable warning or identification.

The actual entrapment excuse is rarely accepted in the courts today. This is because of the sweeping powers of arrest and detention of the Homeland security.

The best way to avoid the hassle is to out right the "client" if they are LE. If they lie to you and the judge believes they lied, then reasonable warning and identifaction has not been provided and you will likely ( not always ) have the charges withdrawn by the State. But it comes down to a he said / she said conversation, and often they have wires..

 

[pineappleguy]

All of what has been said so far is true. Add to that the observarion that interpretation of laws is not consistant state-wide. It varies by region. Buffalo, for example, seems to be more anal about enforcing the anti-prostitution laws than, say, Rochester. Knowing the state law may not help you if YMMV from region to region.

 

[Mr. K]

Dave in Phoenix has some interesting insights on this issue...

http://www.sexwork.com/

 

[beaver cleaner]

I think that if you put him in cuffs first, he cannot use them on you.

 

[MajorWood]

Miss Valentine, a police officer can't not have sex with a SP. In the case of an escort, they'll call on an SP, and once money is exchange for agreed upon service. They'll make the arrest right then and there. Plus they will always work in a group, so the actual act will never happen. In fact, I think they can not be touch at all. In order avoid LE, the girls have started touching their clients before anything is said or money is exchanged.

Entrapment laws vary from states to states. But it actually means, an officer making an offer of money in exchange for a sexual act. In most states if not all, the officer can't not mention the act itself, otherwise he is entraping the SP into an act for money. Most likely he'll ask what he'll get in return for the sum of money. Not sure which of the few states allow this though.

 

[Dave in Phoenix]

A cop never has to tell you who he is, if he is investigating you. Are you a cop? questions is totally worthless. Cops can lie and have sex to invesigate criminal activity in the U.S.

Yes a police officer CAN have sex with an escort and arrest her. In Phoenix where Sheriff Joe has gone wild chasing private escorts and many years of active LE activity cops frequently get naked, fondle etc in a massage parlor or with an escort and ask for more.

Technically it is "out of policy" for a cop to have sex with a provider but it is not illegal for them to do so. Usually they just get naked and fondle. OR just get her to say the wrong thing (even by phone) and arrest her for solicitation.

A few years ago an agency owner made a complaint to internal affairs about cops having sex while busting her gals. She got nowhere even after going to the media. She told me she had to leave town to protect her children from all the police harrassment after she filed a complaint. Cops don't want the community knowing they are enjoying the busts that much. But it is totally "legal" for a cop to have sex with a provider and then bust her.

On entrapment. I've only known it to have avoided criminal charges once. Very rarely is entrapment a defense. But when our beloved Sheriff Joe, busted about 70 incalls (gals working from their homes so charged with running a house of prostitution even if only one person which is a felony not just lighter misdomeaner that street hookers are charged with) his possee arrested the gals and stashed them in vans at a mall the rest of the day so they couldn't warn others. He also invited all the media.

With the gals out of the homes, female cops took over the phones and took calls from customers who were arrested when they showed up. Arrested customers paraded in front of the media and many were shown on local TV.

Interestingly the City Prosecutor tossed out all the cases against the customers due to entrapment!

Also all the women's cases were dismissed but can be refiled.

The local media called it Sheriff Joe's publicity stunt, but local cops to it all the time, just not inviting the media along.

Recently someone from our private list went to a meeting Sheriff Joe had to recuit new possee members. He bragged about "join the possee, chase the hookers"!

Again this is the only time I've ever heard of cases being tossed against the men for entrapment. I've never heard of a provider being successful with entrapment defense.

Such is the situation in the U.S...which is why I am now in Toronto for 10 days!

Dave in Phoenix...well.. now in Toronto
http://www.sexworktoronto.com
http://www.sexwork.com

 

[DenWa]

It is logical to assume that a prostitute is going to have sex with her clients. If a girl has an ad on a website, answers the call, shows up at the hotel with supplies in her purse, then agrees to perform a sex act for money after asking the john if he's a cop, there is no way you can argue entrapment. That's just a part of way too many cop shows on tv. Entrapment only exists, and even then it's a bitch to prove, when a police officer coerces someone to do something that is completely and totally out of the range of behaviors that person would ever do.

An undercover cop in a high school tells a boy she'll give him oral if he gets her drugs. He is a lonely, sex starved kid who has never gotten in trouble and has never bought drugs. He goes out and finds drugs and gives it to the cop, desperate for the intimacy she offers....this is more along the lines of entrapment...getting someone to do something they would have never done had they not been coerced by a police officer.

This benefit of the doubt, if you will, is not going to be extended to a known sex worker.

DW

 

[madmax]

That's right bbking. (Hey, we agree on something!) The entrapment defense is sometimes used by "Johns" who claim that a female undercover officer came on to them so strongly that they were entrapped, i.e. they were otherwise law-abiding citizens who wouldn't have thought of seeing a street-walker if the undercover female cop hadn't grabbed their willies. I've never heard it used by SP's.

 

[Vanessa Valentine]

Okay. So, I'm in the U.S. I want to avoid being busted (obviously). What are the precautions I should take on the phone, in emails and in person? Is there any way for me to protect myself from being arrested? Should I wait until half way through to ask for the $?

V.

 

[ocean976124]

Okay. So, I'm in the U.S. I want to avoid being busted (obviously). What are the precautions I should take on the phone, in emails and in person? Is there any way for me to protect myself from being arrested? Should I wait until half way through to ask for the $?

V.

Its all about quid pro quo. A cop is going to want you to say something or write something via e-mail that would reasonably conclude that you are promising sex for money. They don't necessarily need you to explicitly say it, but they do need something that can be "beyond a reasonable doubt" or "upon a preponderance of the evidence" that what was said or written was in regard to sex for money.
The bottom line is, the second the cop suspects he's got you they'll arrest you. Then you have to pony up the money for a lawyer to fight it.

 

[ocean976124]

I could be wrong but I thought the entrapment defense could only be used by someone who is claiming that they would not normally engage in the criminal activity unless strong incentives were provided by LE. If so you wouldn't be able to claim entrapment Vanessa.

Exactly, entrapment means that you would not have commited said act had the cops not done what they did.

 

[Dave in Phoenix]

Miss Valentine

To be safe, the client has to know the game and not ask the wrong questions. On the other hand with so many scams in the U.S. the client wants to ask the question you can not anwer (anything about sex and money). I provider in Phoenix even got convicted based on her agencies website saying it was full service. A jury was convinced "full service" meant illegal sex.

Regarding money, the smart client puts the money in an envelope addressed (full postal address of some sort) to the provider and stamps it. Leaves it on the table. No mention of it, provider doesn't take it till session complete. Of course no one actually does that... but should.

In Phoenix with all our stings many smart providers only see clients that can give a reference from another known provider, and the reference is checked. Cops can use fake ID's fake employment info and say they were referred by a provider. In one case the provider didn't check with the other and it was a cop just saying he saw the other provider.

In reality, if you just visiting a U.S. city and especially if you don't announce your vist on the cop watched boards since as TBD or TER, you risk is very low.

Dave usually in Phoenix, now in Toronto

 

[madmax]

Miss V, you have a pm!

 

[Snake Pliskin]

Am I the only one who thinks Vanessa should just stay here in Toronto where she is so much safer? Please?