A novel thought, huh?
"If a man mails a picture of his pecker to someone he thinks is a child, that proves enough intent for me."
Well, if you want to make that a crime, then just make sure the punishment fits. These guys are being punished as though an actual child was harmed.
"The idea that we have to wait for a child to get raped before we act is stupid and naive."
Dangerous thinking in the land of the free and the home of the brave, Butch.
Pre-emptive punishment is a great deterrent. When you walk into a bank and fire off a few round while yelling “this is a hold up”, saying “just joking” isn’t going to get you off.
There is a reason why so many of these men plead guilty. They know they truly are guilty. Even they recognize the horribleness of their crimes. Yet, they do them anyway. But they don’t face their depravity until they are caught.
If we had caught the 9/11 terrorists before they commited their crime, they would probably be out of prison right now. Think about that. Their only crime was conspiring to knock down the WTC and the Pentagon. They were just “thinking” about it as someone said earlier.