Cases involving law enforcement officers posing as juveniles online are common.  A typical scenario is found in the recent case of State v. Anderson (WD77202) from the Western District of Missouri Court of Appeals, which was decided in May 2015.  In the Anderson case, a law enforcement officer created a female online profile for a dating site, using a profile with the name Kaitlyn that alleged “she” was 19 years old.  The profile was then posted to the site.

Many of these computer “decoy” cases involve scenarios where a law enforcement officer is purporting to be a minor.  The issue then often becomes some version of this question:  did the defendant actively participate in the exchange, or was he tricked into doing something that he might not have done otherwise?

Continue reading →