Posted on 12/28/2007 6:50:23 PM PST by Roberts
Firefighter Busted for Exposing Himself to Sunbather Appeals 'Entrapment' Conviction
Robin Garrison, an off-duty 42-year-old firefighter, was walking in Berliner Park in Columbus, Ohio, in May when he saw a woman sunbathing topless under a tree.
He approached her and they started talking and getting comfortable, the woman smiling and resting her foot on his shoulder at one point.
Eventually, she asked to see Garrison's penis; he unzipped his pants and complied.
Seconds later, undercover police officers pulled up in a van and arrested Garrison; he was later charged with public indecency, a misdemeanor, based on video footage taken by cops who were targeting men having sex or masturbating in the park. While topless sunbathing is legal in the city's parks, exposing more than that is against the law.
The case is just one of the more extreme examples of police stings aimed at luring people into committing crimes, a tactic that has resulted in hundreds of arrests, many convictions and plenty of controversy.
Law enforcement officials say that such sting operations are an extremely effective means of lowering crime rates and stopping the criminally minded before they commit worse offenses. From early 2006 to the spring of 2007, there were 160 citations for public indecency in the city, according to an investigation by 10TV News. Among those who were caught in the stings: an Ohio State University doctor, government employees and a retired highway trooper.
But such operations veer dangerously close to entrapment, say lawyers, civil libertarians and defendants who've been caught in sting operations.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
It does not matter.
It is too expensive to defend. The police have the PR they want. This entrapped person is disposable. The police don’t have to care, they have badges.
Fine, write the guy a $50 ticket. The girl, too. Pervert? Hell, no. Classified as a “sex offender” for life along with rapists and child molesters? Hell, NO!
The firefighter deliberately exposed himself in a public place and not because he couldn’t find a restroom. That’s perverted to me; that doesn’t mean I agree with the “sex offender for life” status in a (hopefully) one-time situation like this. The punishment should fit the crime, so a fine to cover court costs and some sort of public disciplinary action works for me.
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