Online Solicitation Charges Usually Are Not A Matter Of Entrapment
The law treats Internet sex crimes against minors seriously. You can get a felony conviction and be required to register as a sex offender for online solicitation of a minor, even if you never met the minor in person and have never been in the same room together. Charges of online solicitation apply if you communicate with a person that you reasonably believe to be a minor, and the conversations relate to sexuality or romantic relationships, even if you do not directly discuss meeting in person; for example, sharing sexually explicit content with a person you reasonably believe to be a minor counts as online solicitation. If the chat partner was a teenager and you reasonably believed that she was 18, such as if she told you that she was 18 and you first met her on the campus of a community college, you may use this as a defense, but if the chat partner was an undercover police officer pretending to be a minor, this counts against you. If you are facing charges for online solicitation, contact a West Palm Beach sex offenses lawyer.
You Can Be Convicted of Soliciting a Minor If You Keep Texting After Your Chat Partner Reveals Her Age
A South Florida man is facing felony charges for solicitation of a minor. Yosvany Fernandez Gonzalez met a girl in the lobby of her apartment building; they struck up a conversation and exchanged phone numbers. Before the girl gave Fernandez Gonzalez her phone number, she truthfully told him that she was 12. He told her that he was 27, but he was actually 37. Fernandez Gonzalez exchanged messages and sexually suggestive photographs with the girl, and they planned to meet in the laundry room of her building.
When the girl tried to leave her apartment to go to the laundry room, her mother refused to let her leave. She took the girl’s phone, discovered the messages, and called the police. Undercover officers then took over the conversation, pretending to be the girl. They set up another meeting, this time at a Target near the girl’s apartment building. When Fernandez Gonzalez arrived, they arrested him.
The case against Fernandez Gonzalez is still pending as of November 2024. He is being represented by a public defender; the court will appoint a lawyer from the public defender’s office for any defendant who requests one or who cannot afford to pay for a criminal defense lawyer’s services. The court set his bond at $55,000. The conditions of the bond include house arrest, wearing a GPS ankle monitor, and not contacting the girl or any of her family members. Like all defendants in criminal cases, Fernandez Gonzalez is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Contact a West Palm Beach Criminal Defense Lawyer Today
Attorney William Wallshein has more than 38 years of experience, including five years as a prosecutor in Palm Beach County. Contact William Wallshein P.A. in West Palm Beach, Florida to discuss your case.
Source:
nbcmiami.com/news/local/miami-man-who-was-sexting-with-12-year-old-arrested-when-he-tried-to-meet-her-police/3473117/?_osource=taboola-recirc
