Recently, we shared a blog about a child prostitution sting in Blaine that netted 22 arrests, and we discussed how these cases are typically very hard for defendants to win. In that story, we discussed how officers posed as an underage juvenile in order to get the men to commit to the act, but how far are police allowed to go to get a person to commit a crime. Do these defendants actually have a valid entrapment defense? In today’s blog, we discuss when a prostitution sting is and isn’t an entrapment violation by police.
When Stings Become Entrapment
Undercover operations and stings are common tactics used by law enforcement to collect enough evidence to warrant an arrest and assist with a conviction. During these tactics, police are allowed to be deceptive or even lie to an individual in order to further their case. There is no rule that an undercover agent always has to identify themselves as police if they are asked. Police also don’t need to try to talk an individual out of performing a criminal act. They are allowed to keep the conversation going and allow the individual to incriminate themselves. None of these actions would rise to the level of entrapment.
Entrapment occurs when police push an individual to commit an illegal act that they would have otherwise not performed. Again, simply posing as a sex worker online does not constitute entrapment, because if the individual wasn’t talking to a police officer, there’s a good chance they would be talking to someone else to facilitate the sexual act. An officer would need to do something egregious or be overly coercive during communication to effectively push someone to go through with an act that they likely otherwise would not have committed.
For example, let’s say that a man was talking with an undercover police officer. Let’s take a closer look at two examples of communication that an officer might send, with one being completely legal and the other likely being pursued as entrapment by a good criminal defense lawyer:
“Come on, live a little. Let’s meet up tonight at 8th and Kensington at 10pm. I really want to see you.”
“If you back out now I will send these messages to your wife. I’ll see you tonight at 8th and Kensington at 10pm.”
In the first example, the officer is encouraging the person to act on their desires, even though the act is illegal. This would not constitute entrapment, because ultimately the defendant is free to walk away and make their own decisions. The second example is a form of blackmail, and while the officer may be lying about their intent to send messages to a person’s wife, now the defendant may feel like they have no choice but to commit to the sexual encounter. Police have crossed the line in this scenario with improper persuasion or illegal coercion, and a good defense attorney will likely be able to argue that you would not have committed the act without this improper pressure.
Remember, entrapment doesn’t occur just because police lied to you or you have a clean criminal record and were just messing around online. If you state your intent and begin the process of following through with the meet up, you have committed a crime, and you won’t be able to argue that police forced your hand. Entrapment is always something we will consider, but it’s rare for police action to raise to the level of a valid entrapment defense.
For more information about prostitution charges and common defenses in Minnesota, reach out to Appelman Law Firm today at (952) 224-2277.
