quote "luvumeg" :
i got caught up in a sting operation about a year and a half ago...i still get worked up about it because i felt i was set up..there are no entrapment laws in the state of indiana.
Thank-you for sharing. I know it must have been a painful and traumatic experience.
The most important learnings for me are:
1. Solicitation is the main legal pitfall
Solicitation is a gray area because you must also avoid the "appearance" of solicitation. We all know about explicitly talking about sex for money, but in the US
you can also be charged if you "imply" or "appear" to be offering sex for money. The principle in law is
if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck ... its a duck, no matter what you call it.
Its hypocritical of course, but LE can solicit an escort (ask what it costs for sex). If an escort participates in the "negotiation", she can (will) be charged. So hobbyists need to appreciate why escorts will not talk explicitly or implicitly about services other than time and companionship.
2. Invoke your right to be silent (Fifth Amendment) if you are taken into custody
If you are charged with solicitation and taken into custody, invoke your
Miranda rights - the right to remain silent and the right to have an attorney present. To determine if you are in custody, ask if you are free to leave. If the answer is no --- you are in custody. Always, always remember that
anything you say in the presence of LE may be used as evidence against you! But also remember that the prosecution has to make the case, there's nothing that says you have to make it easy for him.
Any sting operation will be set up to gather evidence. So there will be more that one undercover LE officer (to corroborate testimony) and probably video and audio recording. Otherwise its a he said/she said situation, and the court would decide who is more credible. That is why an escort is always careful about what she says or does. In other words, she acts as if the hobbyist in front of her were undercover LE.
As an escort, your defense is that there is
reasonable doubt that you committed the offense of solicitation (that you did not initiate or participate in sexual commerce). If the case against you is weak, then the charges may be dropped because the prosecution has easier "slam dunk" cases to try.