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["Marie McHarry" <mmcharry AT gmail.com>]

On 11/13/06, EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net> wrote  in reply to the
following:
" I see (and I think the law does too) a big difference between
showing up for free drugs and showing up for free sex with a minor."

> I pretty much agree with you, Marie, except on the last thing.  Legally,
> I don't see a difference between those two, although morally, there is
> most certainly a difference.

No lawyers have spoken up on this issue, but I think I may be correct.
For one thing, in many jurisdictions it's a crime to solicit sex from
a minor over the Internet (at least I'm prety sure I read that
somewhere -- as I said, I'm not a lawyer).

Compare this with the proof needed in other drug and sex crimes that
don't involve children. If you're an adult and are buying drugs, you
have to have your money out to pay for them and give it to the peddler
to be charged. (In comparison, the peddlers can be charged if they set
up within so many feet of a school.)  For sex crimes with adults, you
have to explicitly ask for sex and, I think, money has to change
hands. IOW, there's a lower barrier for child sex crimes. Since it's a
crime to solicit over the Internet, entering the child's home is a
further step in a crime already in progess. In addition, children
can't give consent to the behavior.

Society has traditionally put child abusers at the bottom of the heap.
You don't want to be a pederast in the general population of a
high-security prison.

Marie