Problem with RICO, there’s no actual crime committed - no actual pimping of underage sex slaves. And this is a private sting, not a gov’t one, so there’s not going to be any prosecution.
Anyone know if the gov’t has prosecuted after private stings? That TV set-up where the perverts think they’re going to meet some child they talked to on-line? The private citizens who go on jihad websites trying to discover potential terrorists?
There were definitely prosecutions and convictions of the many of the perverts Chris Hansen caught on Dateline’s “To Catch a Predator”. However, he was working in conjunction with law enforcement on most of them, with the cops waiting outside to arrest the pervs.
In his earliest sting, I believe he was working without law enforcement, and I don’t believe any charges were filed in those cases.
Conspiracy to obstruct justice is a crime I believe.
The Canadian hacker used malware to download a pedo-diary and kiddie porn images from Kline's computer. He turned the evidence over to PedoWatch who turned it over to the Irvine PD who turned it over to the D.A. who prosecuted.
The case was appealed and the 9th Circuit Court ruled that the investigation was "private" and thus did not implicate the 4th and 9th Amendment and the exclusionary rule.
They said the hacker acted with the intent to aid law enforcement. But that wasn’t enough to make him an agent of the government himself, the appellate judges said.
“A private person cannot act unilaterally as an agent or instrument of the state; there must be some degree of governmental knowledge and acquiescence. In the absence of such official involvement, a search is not governmental,” the panel said.