How Florida Police Falsely Arrest & Shame Men As Child Sexual Predators, Steal Their Cars... Then Try To Hide The Records

from the for-the-children! dept

Thu, Jan 15th 2015 8:12am — Mike Masnick

Eric Goldman calls our attention to a rather astounding story out of Florida, involving how various Florida police departments are engaging in what appears to be basically sham "sting" operations online to arrest and shame men as child sexual predators, then steal their cars (sometimes offering to sell them back), and then doing everything possible to hide the records. The whole thing is quite crazy, and I recommend reading the entire thing. It also comes as little surprise that one of the sheriffs deeply involved in this is Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd -- who we've written about a few times before. Back in 2009 we wrote about Judd using Craigslist to find and arrest prostitutes... and then blaming Craigslist, the very tool he used to track down the lawbreakers. A year ago, Judd got a lot more attention for his plan to arrest parents of some girls who were accused of bullying another girl into committing suicide (though, eventually charges were dropped and almost no evidence of any bullying was found).

Those past stories fit with the same pattern that WTSP's "10 Investigates" reporter Noah Pransky found in researching these stings. You know the basics of how these stings work, because they appear to be police-led versions of the famed "To Catch A Predator" TV show. But, quite frequently, the actual cases seem to involve the police going after men who were seeking adult companions, and then doing everything possible to try to convince them that they're interested in minors:

In the case of a 27-year-old Cape Coral man, arrested during the Lee County Sheriff's Office (LCSO) sting this past May, deputies arrested him even though he didn't even travel to meet a child for sex. Law enforcement officers responded to the man's legal "casual encounters" Craigslist ad, pretending to be a 14-year-old girl, even though the ad said, "age for all women must be 18+ no one under email me plz."

The man repeatedly told the undercover detectives that he was "not OK" with meeting up with an underage girl, but because he didn't immediately end the conversation, he was arrested for utilizing his phone to solicit a sexual act from a child. Detectives went to his house and arrested him as a sexual predator of children.

Prosecutors decided there was insufficient evidence to prosecute on either of the accused charges, yet the accusations and man's name remain on LCSO's online press releases and other media outlets' news stories.

Even in some cases where this cajoling and pushing by the police led someone to say OK, the details seem fairly questionable:

A 19-year-old man in Orange Co. was accused of soliciting the guardian of a 13-year-old decoy to arrange sex with her. But the evidence proved differently, as the man was merely responding to an innocuous ad from a 26-year-old woman, which was posted by law enforcement. The detective later tried to convince the man to have sex with the woman's "younger sister," even though he showed little interest.

According to notes from the prosecutor, "this is a tough case" because of "entrapment issues." The man chatted with what he believed to be a 26-year-old woman for five days and the "Law Enforcement Officer suggest(ed) sex first on 2nd day." The defendant said several times he wasn't interested in the 13-year-old, even suggesting he bring a younger teenager boy for the girl when the detective kept bringing the teenager into the discussion. The prosecutor also noted the "law enforcement officer again suggests illegal sex 2 more times" but the defendant was non-committal."

Ultimately, after hundreds of text messages, the man agreed to sex with both females, and was arrested upon arrival. The state declined to prosecute, but the accusations and man's name remain public record.

As the report notes, many of these men are cleared or no charges are ever actually brought against them, but they're still publicly shamed in press releases, declaring them child predators. To add insult to injury, the police often steal their cars, using questionable asset seizure laws:

Sex stings have become especially rich sources for seizures, since almost every man arrested is accused of traveling to seduce, solicit, or entice a child to commit a sexual act…even though no real children are ever involved in the stings. However, the accusations are felonies, meaning law enforcement can seize suspect's vehicles, making it extremely difficult for them to ever get them back without paying thousands of dollars – or more - in cash to the arresting agency.

For example, in one January 2014 sting where the Clearwater Police Department (CPD) and Pinellas County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) arrested 35 men in a single weekend, CPD seized 19 cars as their own under Florida's Contraband Forfeiture Act.

And even when the people are cleared or charges are dropped, they often have to pay up to get their own cars back, if they can get them back at all:

One 24-year-old man, arrested in the January sting in Clearwater, had to pay $10,000 cash to get his 2014 Lexus returned. And even though all felony charges were later dropped in his case, he will not get the money back for either the negotiated settlement or the fees he paid an attorney to handle the vehicle case.

Grady Judd's Polk County is also noted as seizing $15,900 from someone and then "negotiating" to give him back half of it and keeping the other half.

And, of course, the police who are engaged in all of this are also lying about the seriousness of "the problem" while doing everything they can to hide the real details from public view. The article quotes Judd again, insisting that men seeking children was a major problem in South Florida, but the actual evidence -- obtained by WTSP -- shows otherwise, with prosecutors quietly admitting that they have zero cases actually showing that happening.

In 2013, a prosecutor declined to pursue "traveler" charges against a man caught in an Osceola Co. sting because the "state tried to find evidence that the crime of solicitation of minor via computer (parent) was taking place…there are no known cases."

The prosecutor notes the detective "asked ICAC affiliate + the FBI and was able to come up with about 5 examples Nationwide. None in Central FL."

Another Osceola Co. prosecutor in the case of a 21-year-old defendant wrote, "biggest concern was entrapment argument b/c the LE Operation was not really addressing on-going criminal activity…There have been NO documented cases in this area of parents being solicited on-line for sex w/their minor children."

But WTSP was only able to find this out via accessing court records -- and not via public information requests.

10 Investigates has pushed to see other records from law enforcement officers responding to legal dating ads on legal dating sites, but almost every request has been refused. Often, public record exemptions are cited, ranging from "active investigation" to "confidential surveillance techniques," but a Lee County Sheriff's Office spokesperson said records from their June sting had already been destroyed by July.

Similarly, in a related report, WTSP quoted Judd blocking access to such records:

Judd says the records are exempt from state records laws because all of those men are still "under investigation," for they may surface in future stings. However, that indicates Judd - and other law enforcement leaders around Tampa Bay and Sarasota who have now used the same exemption to withhold records - have active investigations open on hundreds, if not thousands, of men who did nothing more than legally communicate with adults on legal websites.

That same article notes that of the 1,200 men arrested as "sexual predators," 97% have zero history of sexual crimes -- and further notes how the police have no problem continuing to shame even men who are cleared:

The state's best-known lawman also showed little concern for due process during a Tuesday press conference to tout arrests since March in predator-style stings. He pointed to 132 mugshots on a giant posterboard and called the men "sexual predators."

But when 10 Investigates pointed out some of the men had already been cleared of charges, he said they were still fair game because "we have a very liberal - a very forgiving - criminal justice system."

That system may give defendants the benefit of doubt and assume "innocent until proven guilty;" but Judd makes sure the mugshots and stigma of being arrested for a sex crime haunts the men for the rest of their lives.

That statement is fairly incredible, but it gives you some insight into the mindset of Judd and some others involved in these efforts. These people are guilty no matter what -- and they will do anything to get them arrested, and then even once they are cleared of any charges, the police will continue to treat them as guilty.

None of this is to diminish the very horrific and tragic reality of situations that do involve actual sexual predators. Those people should be investigated and caught if possible. But what's happening in Florida doesn't seem to have anything to do with legitimately going after predators. Instead, it seems like a combination of entrapment, bogus online stings, high profile shaming of innocent people, stealing their property through asset seizure laws and then abusing public records laws to cover up the details.

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Filed Under: arrests, florida, grady judd, police, polk county, public records, seizures, sexual predators

72 Comments

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scotts13 (profile), 15 Jan 2015 @ 8:21am

Making the problem worse
These "law enforcement" (actually offense manufacturing) officers are doing real victims a serious disservice. If 97% of accusations are made up, it makes it easy to dismiss REAL cases - "Probably made up like the rest of them." Thanks a lot, officers.
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mcinsand, 15 Jan 2015 @ 8:29am

Ah-hah! Could Mark Lutz have changed his name?
The pattern is all too familiar, even if on a smaller scale. This is so Prenda-esque that it has me wondering. Could the seems-to-have-disappeared Mark Lutz have changed his name to Grady Judd?
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2015 @ 8:33am

Turn about
Seems like posting giant billboards with the police who are behind this and list them as sex offenders would be perfectly fine. The "very liberal - a very forgiving - criminal justice system." seems to be only forgiving and liberal in one direction. If they don't have a problem with libel and slander though, go to it. I will gladly contribute towards any funds that make this a reality.
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mcinsand, 15 Jan 2015 @ 8:37am

Re: Turn about
You've got a great idea, and I know enough honest police officers to bet that they would contribute, as well. As aggravating as this is to us not in law enforcement, people like Judd do nothing but enrage those officers that try to act with integrity.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2015 @ 8:41am

I know someone who's been fighting this (in Florida) for 4 years. He has multiple emails sent to friends, facebook conversations, etc saying "Hey I'm messing with a cop who thinks I'm an idiot" sent weeks before his arrest. The prosecutor won't drop the charges. They did seize his house, his car, etc. Luckily his wife is really understand....oh no wait she left him after having his face plastered all over the news as a sex offender. Luckily he's wealthy enough to fight the charges.
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Anonymous Howard, Cowering, 15 Jan 2015 @ 8:47am

Florida
Isn't one of the Bush dynasty involved in Florida government? Sure hope he/she/it's not a candidate for national office anytime soon. Might be embarrassing to have that sort of thing popping up on the talk shows/interviews/debates over and over and over and over and...
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2015 @ 8:49am

If they take your car, you can take it back from them. You just hide your smartphone in the car, and use thee find-my-android or find-my-iphone sites to locate your phone. Where you phone is, the car is. Then you just break into the impound yard and take your car back.
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John Fenderson (profile), 15 Jan 2015 @ 9:00am

Re:
Yeah, there's no way that could go wrong.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2015 @ 9:04am

How is this legal? They refuse to do anything and they harrass them until they agree to it?
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2015 @ 9:08am

Re: Making the problem worse
More importantly, they are intentionally mislabelling people. Think on that, in the wake of Ferguson.
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jupiterkansas (profile), 15 Jan 2015 @ 9:17am

Re: Florida
Are you kidding? His voter base will stand behind all of this because it's all "filthy people trying to have sex" and "they're probably guilty of something."
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jupiterkansas (profile), 15 Jan 2015 @ 9:18am

Re:
Because they are the law.
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ottermaton (profile), 15 Jan 2015 @ 9:20am

A rather astounding story out of Florida?
First line reads:
"... a rather astounding story out of Florida."
Isn't that a bit of an oxymoron? Personally, I haven't been astounded by anything that happens in Florida in years, ever since that time I was attacked and mugged by a guy armed with a tricycle. No, I'm not making that up.
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PRMan, 15 Jan 2015 @ 9:20am

Re:
Well, in the past the FBI or DOJ would arrest these cops for theft under color of law and that would be the end of it. But that's not happening anymore.
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Michael, 15 Jan 2015 @ 9:25am

Re: Re:
Yeah, the police might find my smartphone.
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Michael, 15 Jan 2015 @ 9:27am

Re: A rather astounding story out of Florida?
The state is shaped like a penis for a reason.
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Todd Metcalfe, 15 Jan 2015 @ 9:29am

There seem to be some predators alright
So essentially the police are inflicting undue and unwarranted fear onto children and their parents through their own irresponsible (to put it nicely) activities -- and probably causing an enormous amount of fear and distress for the children and spouses of the falsely accused, as well as for their neighbors, friends, and others close to them.

So who exactly are the real predators here?
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2015 @ 9:32am

But think of the pretend children...Do it for all the ones they made up!!!
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John Fenderson (profile), 15 Jan 2015 @ 9:36am

Re: A rather astounding story out of Florida?
I have to admit that Florida is one of the handful of states that I am genuinely nervous about setting foot in.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2015 @ 9:42am

Good cops take note: these are bad cops. It's your duty to fix this.
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lucidrenegade (profile), 15 Jan 2015 @ 9:45am

Property not required as evidence should not be seized until a person is CONVICTED of a crime.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2015 @ 9:45am

Re:
In all fairness to your friend's ex-wife, the modus operandi of these guys seems to be "find a guy advertising that he's looking for a woman to have sex with and try and badger him into agreeing to have sex with a minor", or "advertise as a woman looking for a man to have sex with, and try and badger men who respond into having sex with a minor".

Given that, it would be a really tough sell to convince the wife that he totally wasn't looking for women to cheat on her with, he was just looking for some cops to figuratively fuck around with.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2015 @ 9:52am

Just like the cops who wanted to medically induce that kid's erection in order to take pictures of it, these cops seem like the actual sexual predators in the scenario.

That being said, there's an old joke from the early days of the web that every 13 year old girl on the internet is actually an FBI agent.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2015 @ 9:53am

Re: Re: Making the problem worse
Remember all of this is self fulfilling prophecy.
Multiple things are achieved.
Pretty but false claims on reports that police are cleaning up crime.
Enraging the citizenry further giving them excuses to increase the level of violence in response, which of course only breeds more so militarization is easier to justify.
DA gets to pad their political resumes as the truly ignorant electorate eats it all up.
PD gets to steal from the citizenry for their slush funds and budgets.

There is far more going down with Ferguson and the like that the media and government will admit.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2015 @ 10:07am

Re:
Ah yes. The internet, where men are men, women are men, and children are FBI agents.
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David, 15 Jan 2015 @ 10:11am

Re: Re: A rather astounding story out of Florida?
If it weren't flaccid, we'd not be afraid of Cuba. As it stands (or rather not stands), the world power of Cuba is too close for comfort.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2015 @ 10:19am

Re: Re: Re:
If the cops find your smartphone, then you just remotely wipe your phone, so they cannot get any information from it.

First, you go to where the GPS says your phone is. If it is not the impound yard, then you know the cops have found your phone, then you just log into your favourite find-my-android or find-my-iPhone site and immediately send a remote wipe so that all data in your phone is wiped, and cannot be used by investigators
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eaving (profile), 15 Jan 2015 @ 10:26am

Class Action?
I'm not fond of class action lawsuits as a rule, but it sounds to me like this might be a perfect situation for one.
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Unanimous Cow Herd, 15 Jan 2015 @ 10:37am

Do what now?
Judd-"we have a very liberal - a very forgiving - criminal justice system."

Guess it has to be to compensate for overzealous car thieves with badges.
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David, 15 Jan 2015 @ 10:46am

Re: Re:
The DOJ is in for half of the money if I remember correctly. It's not in their interest to hold up the law.

Let me repeat this for you: It is not in the interest of the Department of "Justice" to hold up the law.

The problem with that is that the U.S. is the stronghold of capitalism where any crime is justified if the price is right.

For that reason it would be the job of Congress to make sure that the Department of Justice does no longer profit from police criminality.
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NoahVail (profile), 15 Jan 2015 @ 10:47am

FDLE guidelines for ensuring seizure success
Reading over the FDLE guidelines for Civil Asset Forfeiture it seems clear to me that these false-entrapment stings are designed around the statute
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/131365NCJRS.pdf
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John Fenderson (profile), 15 Jan 2015 @ 10:53am

Re: Class Action?
Class actions are only possible with civil suits. I think that this is a better candidate for criminal prosecution.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2015 @ 10:55am

Re: Re: A rather astounding story out of Florida?
This raises the interesting question: what other states fall into the handful?
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Seegras (profile), 15 Jan 2015 @ 10:57am

FBI
Don't you have something like the FBI to investigate these criminals?

Or are the too busy setting up sting operations for fake terrorists by chatting to people interested in "praying circles" and trying to get them to want to "blow up infidels" instead?
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amoshias (profile), 15 Jan 2015 @ 11:40am

I feel like you're missing the point...
Mike, I feel like you're missing the point when you write, at the end, that Judd and others still think they're guilty even after they're cleared of all charges. I think even that seemingly-damning statement relieves Judd of the worst part of this.

He knows damn well the people involved aren't guilty, and doesn't care. Innocence, guilt, protecting the public are nowhere on his radar. This abuse gets him three things. Fame, money, reputation. Of course, he has to put up the front that people are guilty - but no sane person could believe that's what's happening here. He's ruining people's lives for his personal benefit; he's a psychopath, and like so many instead of being put away he's put in a position of power.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2015 @ 12:23pm

Trying to convince people their good people by doing bad things........then get the news or politician to spin it.........thats the world we live in
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2015 @ 12:36pm

Re: Re: Making the problem worse
And it's especially bad because the 'sexual predator' label of today is like the communist label of decades ago that used to ruin lives (see Joseph McCarthy's communist witch hunts).

If you want to ruin someone's life just falsely accuse them of being a sexual predator. Even if they're proven innocent, their reputation will be ruined for life and they'll be branded a sexual predator.

I read about one such cast with a pastor who was forced out of his church by similar false accusations. Someone in his congregation really wanted to get rid of him, so he called the cops and accused the pastor of having child pornography on his church laptop. The pastor did have child pornography on it, but only because the guy who reported it to the police emailed it to the pastor right before calling the police.

Even though the cops cleared the pastor of any wrong doing and arrested his accuser, it wasn't enough to save the pastor's reputation. His congregation turned against him and fired him.
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Anon E. Mous (profile), 15 Jan 2015 @ 12:42pm

Robbery, coercion, extorsion.... Those would be some of the charges if you were pulling this scam by yourself or with a couple other people.

If you weren't a police officer, you'd be sitting in a cell rattling the bars to pass the time till you got bailed out or till your trial.

Apparently if you a police officer, you can do those three things legally, and get away with it.

And the Law Enforcement community wonders why the people don't entirely believe they are there to help them and you can trust them
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John Fenderson (profile), 15 Jan 2015 @ 1:12pm

Re: Re: Re: Making the problem worse
This is a cultural problem, and a severe one. If people see someone being investigated or arrested for a crime, then people tend to believe they're guilty even if the courts say otherwise.

For an easy example, look at all of the rental properties that won't rent to anyone with an arrest record, period. They don't care if the arrest led to a verdict of not guilty.
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John Fenderson (profile), 15 Jan 2015 @ 1:14pm

Re:
Taking your friend's story at face value, he's certainly being mistreated. However, he did also kick the bear in the balls.
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John Fenderson (profile), 15 Jan 2015 @ 1:20pm

Re: Re: Re: A rather astounding story out of Florida?
The usual suspects like Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Texas. And, just so I'm not only picking on the south, I'll add New York City (I know that's not a state) as well as Illinois and the Boston area of Massachusetts.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2015 @ 1:49pm

A suggestion for law enforcement...
...if you're fishing for catfish but keep catching carp...

...shouldn't you try fishing where the catfish are?
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David, 15 Jan 2015 @ 3:47pm

Re: A suggestion for law enforcement...
But they only have a license fishing for catfish and there are no catfish in the reach of their boats.

So they fish for "catfish" by putting whiskers into carps until they stick.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2015 @ 4:37pm

Always wondered why...
The individual police officer can be liable for theft? File claim in federal court against the individual?
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jupiterkansas (profile), 15 Jan 2015 @ 5:55pm

Re:
To be fair, there are laws that let them do this - that's the first problem right there.
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any moose cow word, 15 Jan 2015 @ 6:06pm

If I'd personally encountered this, I'd do what's "proper" in such situations--record the entire interaction and inform the FBI of "child prostitution". It would test whether or not the FBI still investigates these cases and possibly make some interesting headlines about FBI agents busting a local police sting.
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That One Guy (profile), 15 Jan 2015 @ 8:47pm

Re: Turn about
It would have to be a funeral/legal fund, if the person who did that wasn't shot 'accidentally', you can bet they'd quickly find themselves 'coincidentally' investigated for soliciting underage sex.
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That One Guy (profile), 15 Jan 2015 @ 8:50pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
And then they charge you for destruction of evidence. 'What evidence?' you may say, but clearly if you wiped your phone it could only be because it had the absolutely worst of the worst on it, and they just hadn't gotten around to copying it over for analysis yet.

Remember, we're talking about scum that are ruining people's lives for money and laughs, they would have no problem doing the same to someone that annoyed them.
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That One Guy (profile), 15 Jan 2015 @ 9:00pm

Re:
Hope you like being blackmailed by the FBI for your 'involvement' in 'child' prostitution.

The 'proper' response these days isn't to tell a government agency, it's to drop the conversation and block them if they're persistent. Reporting it to a government agency or the police is just asking for trouble, much like calling the cops will pretty much always make a bad situation worse.

Catching actual criminals is hard work, and the government and/or police have no interest in anything that takes effort, so reporting anything to them is just giving them an easy target to go after: You.
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Ninja (profile), 16 Jan 2015 @ 2:55am

Re: Making the problem worse
This is another symptom of the need to 'show' that a lot of criminals are being caught so 'work' is flowing fine. Fact is a good law enforcement eventually will lead to a bare minimum offenses because either all criminals are ailed/rehabilitated or the deterrence effect from good law enforcement practice is great enough that most criminals won't carry on with their misdeeds at all. The bare minimum is there because crime will never reach zero because you'll always have those that will carry on regardless of any other factors.

In the end this is double the shame for Florida: once because they are screwing up and targeting innocents and another one because they are actually failing in getting the number of crime occurrences down.
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John Fenderson (profile), 16 Jan 2015 @ 8:29am

Re: Always wondered why...
If the officer that is accused of the theft was operating in accordance with police policy, then any liability falls on the police department itself. If the officer was operating outside of police policy, then the officer is personally liable.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Jan 2015 @ 10:05am

Crimes against humanity
These abuses rate as crimes against humanity and are right up there with crimes against nature. Law enforcement is set up to keep the laws from being broken or punish those who are breaking them. Arrest thyselves.
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John Fenderson (profile), 16 Jan 2015 @ 2:12pm

Re: Crimes against humanity
"Law enforcement is set up to keep the laws from being broken or punish those who are breaking them."

The police are absolutely not there to punish anybody at all. The police are there to investigate crimes and bring suspects to court. It's the court's job to determine guilt or innocence and to mete out any punishment.
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GEMont (profile), 16 Jan 2015 @ 5:29pm

The Advantages of Adversity
New Term:

"Creative Law Enforcement"

Find a crime that cannot be stopped and figure out ways to exploit the laws surrounding that crime for fun and profit.

From: "The Police State Handbook",
Chapter 3 : "LEOs without borders."

---
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nasch (profile), 20 Jan 2015 @ 8:30am

Re: Re: Making the problem worse
The bare minimum is there because crime will never reach zero because you'll always have those that will carry on regardless of any other factors.

You'll always get a red ball now and then.
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Trey, 28 Jan 2015 @ 5:01pm

Cooking the books by law enforcement is not any new concept, but misappropriating taxpayer dollars and lying to the public is about as dirty as it gets. Someone should definitely be held criminaly responsible.
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Valdeir, 22 Jun 2015 @ 4:59pm

I know someone who's been fighting this (in Florida) for 4 years. He has multiple emails sent to friends, facebook conversations, etc saying "Hey I'm messing with a cop who thinks I'm an idiot" sent weeks before his arrest
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sheriff Judd, 5 Aug 2015 @ 1:51am

I'm crooked so what
yes these accusations are all true. So fucking what, sue me!
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Eric Knight, 19 Oct 2015 @ 12:30pm

Charge and Indict the Entrampment officers
If the cops themselves are the ones who first bring up the children, fake or not, they ought to be indictable as well. Strictly speaking, THEIR liabilty is greater as they are the ones who OFFERED such children. The way to do this is to go to a FEDERAL agency to pursue such charges, particuarly if you are out of state to the sting itself.
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Bruno, 4 Jun 2016 @ 12:09pm

Comment
The police are absolutely not there to punish anybody at all.
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Joey Valo (profile), 7 Aug 2016 @ 12:14am

Wtf?
It's funny how Grady Judd is going to try to bust people for underage sex when he himself got a 13 year old girl pregnant. He got away with it by paying the girl's family. What a fucking hypocrite!
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R.H. (profile), 6 Sep 2017 @ 12:40pm

Re: Re: Re: Making the problem worse
In this case, at least, it looks like the DA's are refusing to prosecute these horrible cases.
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Stephen Samuel, 7 Sep 2017 @ 1:58pm

Re: Making the problem worse - Libel
If people have been cleared, and the police are still telling the public that they're sex predators, then those people have good reason to sue the police department for slander an libel.

(( If it's a credible case but the evidence is just too week for 'beyond a reasonable doubt', though, remember that losing such a case could provide some really bad publicity.
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George, 10 Sep 2017 @ 10:29am

Perverted "law enforcement"
Things like this would not occur if the public did not support it. The only thing that will stop it is law suits that cost millions & bankrupt the public. Of course, the next move would be to make the law suits illegal, ---or have law enforcement try their own cases, which is basically what is taking place now with some of the judges in whose court these cases are tried.
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VICKI, 25 Mar 2018 @ 8:04pm

POLK COUNTY DETECTIVES
GRADY JUDD THINKS EVERYONE IS GUILTY OF SOMETHING.HE GOES ON LIVE TV AND DOWNGRADES PEOPLE AND CALLS THEM ALL KINDS OF NAMES.WHY IS HE NOT IN JAIL FOR PUTTING KIDS IN ADULT JAILS.ISNT THAT ABUSE.INMATES ARE NEGLETED MEDICALLY ESPECIALLY DISABLED INMATES.HE THINKS IT HAS TO BE HIS WAY OR NO WAY.HELP THE ONES WHO NEED HELP GIVE THEM A SECOND CHANCE GOD KNOWS GRADY JUDD HAS BEEN GIVEN PLENTY OF SECOND CHANCES
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Charlotte Crittrn, 27 Apr 2018 @ 11:02pm

Neglected To arrest Johnathon Harvey
Reported Harvey assualted 13 year on 5 different occasions and was never arrested. Child advocate group located in Bartow and DCF said without a shadow of doubt Mr. Harvey violated this 13 year little girl and he still is walking the streets today. They were also made aware that other family members of Harvey had been touched when they were small children also. They never even tried to contact the other victims to ask them of the incidents. They moved from Lakeland, Fl to get away from this man and now DCF had-removed two children from Lakeland and moved them out of state. Why does he still walk the streets where the kids had to leave the home they ever known. Grady Judd is a joke especially when he says their is no tolerance in my county! Especially in your county!!!
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Carlos C, 23 Aug 2018 @ 6:28am

Tem que ter justiça mesmo.
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tumbleweed1962 (profile), 15 Dec 2019 @ 2:07pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Making the problem worse
More than likely because he had a well paid attorney. Those that lack the funds are given a life sentence of lost rights, registration, regulations and ostracized by family, friends, neighbors, coworkers (if they can find a job), etc....
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tumbleweed1962 (profile), 15 Dec 2019 @ 2:17pm

Re: Re: Making the problem worse
They have no intention of reducing arresr rates. It's Big business. Even fabricated crimes bring federal funding, increased tax revenues, forfeiture property, and promotions. The fact that there are privately owned prisons tells you there's money to be made. If they cared about the public that time and money would be spent on sites where minors actually are located but the very fact that they have 0 cases of actual solicitation proves they Must show their worth to keep their jobs. Real or fabricated matters not to them.
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tumbleweed1962 (profile), 15 Dec 2019 @ 2:34pm

Re: Charge and Indict the Entrampment officers
They have written the to allow a charge of soliciting and or illegal use of electronic equipment for those that might have considered it for a moment but declined in the end. So Thought Crime is real in the 21st century. George Orwell missed it by a few years but his Book "1984" predicted much of what is happening today. If a person wins a case or an appeal they change or make new laws to cover that. Wanna see corruption? Just look to our political and legal systems.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Mar 2020 @ 11:04pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Making the problem worse
believe me they do go after the,m if the person does not have a good atty praying for a miracle for an innocent young man who wasn't looking fir a young girl, did not respond to an online ad, did not set up a time to see the decoy, blocked them from calling and did not travel anywhere but was arrested asnyway at his home the next day. Now labled a sec\cxuaskl predator by grady
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Aug 2021 @ 2:01pm

Re: I feel like you're missing the point...
Usually the one that screams the loudest, is the one that’s guilty..
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