backpage sex stings az castillo law

Video Blog: Backpage.com and Sex Stings in AZ

Cindy CastilloSex Crime, Arizona Law, Backpage.com Sex Stings




Start transcription for Backpage.com sex stings in AZ

Hi, my name is Cindy Castillo, with Castillo Law. Today I’d like to talk to you about Backpage.com ads.

The State of Arizona is preparing for the Super Bowl in 2015. In an effort to clean-up our state, the State of Arizona and law-enforcement officers has said, “We are not going to tolerate any type of offenses against children, which include sex offenses.” In an effort to do this, law enforcement has started using back-page ads in order to try to trap individuals in situations where they be pursuing young children.

It’s very important that if you are visiting these backpage.com ads that you know what you are getting yourself into. Some individuals have used these backpage ads for escorts. While an escort may have a license, that is one thing, but many of the individuals who post on these backpage ads don’t have a license, and if you are pursuing individuals on backpage ads for anything that is illegal, you may find yourself negotiating with a law-enforcement officer.

The backpage ads where law-enforcement has been targeting individuals have usually been situations where an individual is either offering massages or services that are questionable. Even though the backpage ad says that the poster is 18 years or older, eventually what happens is once you start communicating with this individual, the person will tell you that she is not actually 18 years old, but rather 15 or 16 years old.

Usually it comes in a scenario such as this. “Hey, my driver’s license is not working,” or, “My fake ID is not working. Could you stop and pick up a package of cigarettes for me?” In that conversation, usually the decoy divulges their age. The individual is quickly turned to, what kind of services the individual wants, and it normally is missed by the person pursuing the services.

Eventually, when the person gets to the hotel room, that person is told, again, the age, and asked if it’s okay. They’ll usually require that the person put money down, and as soon as the person puts money down, law-enforcement comes in and takes over. This is a problem because while the individual may have thought that they were just soliciting a prostitute, at this point they have now solicited an underage prostitute, which is a felony in the State of Arizona, and it can carry some pretty harsh consequences.

If you are going to these back-page ads it’s very important that you understand that there are consequences with going to these back-page ads that may be offering illegal services. If you are in this situation, please feel free to contact me. I have a lot of experience in this area and have been successful in negotiating these cases.
End Transcription