[Vision2020] Sentence Appropriate?

Paul Rumelhart godshatter at yahoo.com
Mon Jun 21 22:49:04 PDT 2010


Are you saying that I'm directing anger and insult at people?  I'm not 
the one outraged because this guy didn't get a harsher sentence, despite 
our ignorance of the facts.

All I'm saying is this:

1.  We don't know shit about what actually happened here.

2.  That leaves open the possibility that he isn't evil incarnate.

and, as a separate issue not involved with the above,

3.  I don't happen to agree with the thought crime aspect of the 
enticement law.

That's all.  My apologies if you think I'm angry and trying to insult 
you.  I'm just frustrated because I feel like I've been trying to get 
the above across like 15 times and no one is listening. 

I do know that predators like you describe exist.  My point is that we 
don't really know that he was one of them.  This kind of subject is so 
emotionally powerful that I think it's wise to try get people to take a 
step back and not let themselves get whipped up into a fury without 
knowing the facts of the case.  It never makes me friends, but like the 
stupid son of a bitch I am I keep trying.

Paul

Saundra Lund wrote:
> Paul, in spite of being kind of taken aback by the anger and insult directed
> at those who don't agree with your opinion on this (contrary to your
> opinion, you *don't* corner the market on rational thought here), I'm going
> to don my Kevlar suit and comment.
>
> You seem to be operating under the impression that this creep was arrested
> because of his thoughts when ***nothing*** could be further from the truth:
> he was arrested because he sent sexually explicit text and pictures to
> someone he believed was a young girl, for Pete's sake.  Would you have
> preferred that he was successful in his efforts?!?  Personally, I thank God
> it was a cop on the receiving end of his putrid communications rather than a
> 13-year-old girl.
>
> Now, maybe you've been living under a rock or just haven't bothered to
> educate yourself about the peril in cyberspace to our children from
> pedophiles like this, but the threat is very real and creeps like this guy
> cause very real harm to children every single day.  If you don't believe me,
> try hanging out online and pose as a 13-year-old girl -- or boy -- yourself.
> The absolutely ***filthy*** crap I got when I tried it was a real
> eye-opener.
>
> Or, check out:
> http://www.perverted-justice.com/
> [WARNING:  the site contains chat transcripts of pedophiles sending sexually
> explicit text and pictures to who they think are children.]
> Regardless of what you think of their actions, the chat transcripts should
> provide you with the education you clearly seem to be lacking.
>
> And, I don't give a *rip* where he encountered this person:  as soon as
> "she" identified herself as a 13-year-old girl, he was ***way*** over the
> line in sending her sexually explicit text and pictures.
>
> I think the sentence was a travesty, an absolute joke, and part of the
> problem of child sexual abuse in this country.  If the courts minimize the
> crimes, as this sentence shows, is it any wonder other segments of society
> don't take it seriously?  During the sentencing of another local pedophile,
> I actually heard a judge comment from the bench in explaining his leniency
> that the fact that the offender had been homeschooled years before the
> offense had sheltered him so that his emotional age wasn't what it should
> have been.  <snort>  That's the way to encourage child victims to come
> forward, don't you think?
>
> This is what passes in Latah County as justice for crimes against children
> here, and it's a damn embarrassing shame.
>
>
> Saundra Lund
> Moscow, ID
>
> The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
> nothing.
> ~ Edmund Burke
>
> ***** Original material contained herein is Copyright 2010 through life plus
> 70 years, Saundra Lund.  Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or reproduce outside
> the Vision 2020 forum without the express written permission of the
> author.*****
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
> On Behalf Of Paul Rumelhart
> Sent: Sunday, June 20, 2010 9:30 PM
> To: Art Deco
> Cc: Vision 2020
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Sentence Appropriate?
>
>
> The question of the legality of this defense in this case aside, how is 
> this not thought crime?    If the defendant claimed that they did not 
> believe that the person they were corresponding with was really a 
> 13-year old girl but decided to "go along with it" for the excitement 
> such a fantasy might give him, how would they be able to determine 
> otherwise?
>
> Paul
>
> Art Deco wrote:
>   
>> "A Moscow man who *pleaded guilty* to enticing a child over the 
>> Internet..."
>>  
>> Heustis was represented by Chuck Kovis, a very able trial/defense 
>> attorney.  If the argument you presented given the evidence presented 
>> at court really raised a reasonable doubt, it is highly probable that 
>> Kovis would have earned a not guilty plea.
>>  
>> Here is the statute:
>>  
>> 18-1509A.Enticing of children over the internet -- Penalties -- 
>> Jurisdiction. (1) A person aged eighteen (18) years or older shall be 
>> guilty of a felony if he or she knowingly uses the internet to 
>> solicit, seduce, lure, persuade or entice by words or actions, or 
>> both, a minor child under the age of sixteen (16) years *or a person 
>> the defendant believes to be a minor child under the age of sixteen 
>> (16) years* to engage in any sexual act with or against the child 
>> where such act is a violation of chapter 15, 61 or 66, title 18 
>> <http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/idstat/Title18/T18.htm>, Idaho Code.
>> (2)  Every person who is convicted of a violation of this section 
>> shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a period not 
>> to exceed fifteen (15) years.
>> (3)  It shall not constitute a defense against any charge or violation 
>> of this section that a law enforcement officer, peace officer, or 
>> other person working at the direction of law enforcement was involved 
>> in the detection or investigation of a violation of this section.
>> (4)  The offense is committed in the state of Idaho for purposes of 
>> determining jurisdiction if the transmission that constitutes the 
>> offense either originates in or is received in the state of Idaho.
>>  
>>  
>> I think this matter of virtuality has been before an appellate court 
>> before and has withstood a challenge.
>>  
>> Notice in my comment I said "attempting to entice a *virtual *13 
>> year-old girl"
>>  
>> W.
>>
>>     ----- Original Message -----
>>     *From:* Paul Rumelhart <mailto:godshatter at yahoo.com>
>>     *To:* Art Deco <mailto:deco at moscow.com>
>>     *Cc:* Vision 2020 <mailto:vision2020 at moscow.com>
>>     *Sent:* Sunday, June 20, 2010 5:35 PM
>>     *Subject:* Re: [Vision2020] Sentence Appropriate?
>>
>>
>>     I don't know what to think about this.  If "enticing a child"
>>     means that
>>     he was setting up a time and place to have sex with a person he
>>     thought
>>     was 13, then I'm glad they caught him.  But there is an interesting
>>     twist to this, though.  What he was charged with doesn't sound
>>     like it
>>     would be a crime if there was no minor involved.  Since there
>>     wasn't an
>>     actual minor involved, then this means that they are charging him for
>>     thinking that there was a 13-year old on the other end of the
>>     wire.  Did
>>     they just cross over into thought crime territory?  I don't know. 
>>     Did
>>     he really believe she was 13?  People lie about their age and gender
>>     online all the time.  What if he thought he or she was someone
>>     pretending to be 13 and that thought excited him?  Does "enticing a
>>     child" cover other aspects that don't involve actual meetings for
>>     sex? 
>>     In other words, were they just "talking dirty" to each other?
>>
>>     Anyway, I just thought that was an interesting aspect of this
>>     case.  You
>>     guys can go back to bashing Judge Stegner now.
>>
>>     Paul
>>
>>     Art Deco wrote:
>>     > When are we going to get a district court judge that takes sexual
>>     > crimes against children seriously enough to give sentences that
>>     > promote deterrence and demonstrates to the community that sexual
>>     > crimes against children are not to be tolerated?
>>     > 
>>     > Thirty days soft jail time and five years of basically meaningless
>>     > probation is hardly an appropriate sentence for attempting to
>>     entice a
>>     > virtual 13 year-old girl into a sexual encounter.
>>     > 
>>     > Who is the greater threat to the well being of the community?  A
>>     > single offense offender or a judge that gives many lenient
>>     sentences?
>>     > 
>>     > Wayne A. Fox
>>     > 1009 Karen Lane
>>     > PO Box 9421
>>     > Moscow, ID  83843
>>     > 
>>     > waf at moscow.com <mailto:waf at moscow.com> <mailto:waf at moscow.com>
>>     > 208 882-7975
>>     >
>>     >
>>     >   Man gets jail time in Internet crime case
>>     >
>>     >
>>     >       Heustis sentenced to five years probation, 30 days in jail
>>     >
>>     > By Christina Lords Daily News staff writer
>>     >
>>     > Posted on: Saturday, June 19, 2010
>>     >
>>     > A Moscow man who pleaded guilty to enticing a child over the
>>     Internet
>>     > was sentenced by 2nd District Court Judge John Stegner to 30
>>     days in
>>     > jail and five years probation Friday.
>>     >
>>     > Kendall W. Heustis, 40, pleaded guilty to the charge in Latah
>>     County
>>     > District Court in mid-April.
>>     >
>>     > He faced a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a fine of
>>     $50,000.
>>     >
>>     > The charge was in relation to an undercover law enforcement sting
>>     > conducted by the Washington County Sheriff's Office in Oregon
>>     between
>>     > April and July 2008. The investigating officer was a member of
>>     > Oregon's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
>>     >
>>     > The officer posed as a 13-year-old girl from Oregon, and Heustis
>>     > exchanged explicit information through chat rooms and Web
>>     cameras with
>>     > the undercover officer during that time.
>>     >
>>     > "It's been a long two years," Heustis said. "I've learned a lot
>>     from
>>     > it. A lot of things happened because of what I did on the computer,
>>     > and I'm paying the price for it."
>>     >
>>     > During the sentencing, Michelle Evans, senior deputy prosecuting
>>     > attorney for Latah County, asked for 10 years probation and a
>>     90-day
>>     > jail sentence.
>>     >
>>     > "I think that it's appropriate to impress upon Mr. Heustis ... the
>>     > seriousness of what he did," she said.
>>     >
>>     > Evans said it was fortunate Heustis was chatting with an undercover
>>     > detective instead of an actual victim during the incidents.
>>     >
>>     > Heustis must register as a sex offender and complete sex offender
>>     > treatment at Valley Treatment Specialties in Clarkston.
>>     >
>>     > The computer he used during the enticement incidents, which is
>>     in the
>>     > possession of the Moscow Police Department, must be forfeited,
>>     and he
>>     > is not allowed to use the Internet except for purposes congruent
>>     with
>>     > this probation requirements.
>>     >
>>     > Under the terms of his probation, he is not allowed to be alone
>>     with
>>     > anyone under the age of 18 and cannot frequent any city parks or
>>     > schools where children may be present.
>>     >
>>     > Heustis is prohibited from consuming alcohol, but Stegner said
>>     Heustis
>>     > would still be allowed to enter some bars to be able to continue
>>     > playing drums in his band.
>>     >
>>     > He was sentenced to pay $100 in court costs.
>>     >
>>     > Latah County has never pursued an enticement case like this before,
>>     > Evans said.
>>     >
>>     > *Christina Lords *can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 301, or by
>>     > e-mail to clords at dnews.com <mailto:clords at dnews.com>
>>     <mailto:clords at dnews.com>.
>>     >
>>     >
>>
>>     
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