[Restorer]

I guess the part that bugs me is that there are no children actually involved. The "crime" takes place exclusively in the mind of the pervert. He solicited no child, but rather a cop posing as a child.

If a young-looking adult woman claiming to be 15 had sex with an older man, would he be committing statutory rape? He certainly would be intending to, but would it, or should it, qualify as a crime?

What about a young-looking detective who purchases liquor without being carded? The clerk probably believed he was selling liquor to a minor, but he wasn't.

There is a disquieting element of "thought crime" in these situations.

[Phantom Lord]

If a young-looking adult woman claiming to be 15 had sex with an older man, would he be committing statutory rape?

That is one of the reasons that SCOTUS made the right ruling last year regarding "virtual" child porn, and allowing it. The way the law they struck down was written, if a 20 year actress portrayed a 15 year old girl and appeared nude or in sexual acts, that, by law was child pornography! Never mind that the actress was 20!

Or, if the actress "appeared" to be under the age of 18. Never mind her age. If she "appeared" to be under 18 to the judge, it is child pornography.

[CanisRex]

I guess the part that bugs me is that there are no children actually involved. The "crime" takes place exclusively in the mind of the pervert. He solicited no child, but rather a cop posing as a child.
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Exactly! I think that what this guy's "intentions" were were dispicable but this entire "crime" was baloney. This is no different from punishing someone for telling someone else they are going to speed in a vehicle