Uh-Oh. Got Myself In A Sticky Situation.

[rapturer]

Well, guys, I kinda, sorta did a really stupid thing and I know that I'm going to get cyber yelled at by you guys, but I'm ready to stand up and take it. Lol.

Okay, after watching To Catch A Predator obsessively, I thought it would be a great idea to start doing something like that on my own. No, I wasn't going to set up a sting operation (DUH!) or talk to them on the phone or give the guys my picture or address or anything..just talk. It's been a while but I posted a topic a while back about what I wanted to be when I get older so please see Exhibit A: http://forums.realpolice.net/showthr...light=rapturer, if you want to read about that, I'm too lazy to write all of that out.

Anyways, so I did just that and very easily found a lot of guys to chat with me. And it's been about, oh, two months or so and most of the guys just wanted a little one-night thing. But, a couple of guys are still chatting with me.

So, I decided what I was going to do was contact someone about these guys and then eventually I wound up talking to someone from the MO Highway Patrol about it (and she even told me that she might get in contact with the FBI if we ended up working with her because the guy I was talking to at the time lived in California and wanted to go across state borders to get here and visit "me"). Talked to her one night for a while and then she told me that I had to tell my dad about it and get his permission to continue because she, as did I, understood that it was a VERY sticky situation and she didn't want me to get involved with it unless we had his permission. So, I talked to him about it and he FREAKED! Well, at first anyways. Then he kinda stopped freaking out so much and he said he would call her back and talk to her. It's been two months now and he never called her back. I asked him everyday if he would and I knew that it would be better just to forget about it and stop asking because he was never going to do it...so I lost contact with the MO Highway Patrol and haven't talked to them since.

I told my dad I'd stop talking to those guys, but then I was overwhelmed with the fact that if I let them go they would just go out there and find another girl to talk to and maybe hurt them. And I didn't want that to happen. They are obviously VERY disturbed individuals with very warped minds. They know that I said I was 14 and they still wanted to meet "me" they still wanted to have sexual intercourse with "me". They are just SICK. And they will find another girl on the internet and woo them and tell them nice things and eventually hurt them if they can.

I guess what my question is, is what in the world I should do? The obvious answer is to stop talking to them. And I'm thinking about maybe doing that, but it will be on my chest FOREVER knowing that they are out there scoping the internet and what they could have done/be doing to another young child. I was trying to think of a way where I could just give their information to someone else and they could start talking to them instead of me, that way someone is still keeping tabs on them. Or should I just let it go and hope for the best? I know that as soon as I can, whatever age that may be, probably 18, I'm going to try and start helping whoever I can to catch these guys again. Should I just wait for those two more years and then start doing it? I just wonder how much damage these guys can cause in someones life in that long time? Ughh..I just really do not know what to do.

And yes, I am very, very careful with everything I say to these guys. Yes, they know what town I live in, which I really do live in. But, I do not use my own picture, I do not use my own name, I make absolutely everything up about me, etc. The only thing I worry about is if I happen to talk to a computer-wiz and they find a way to track my address on the computer and find my real address. And I've actually been thinking about that a lot.

Any advice on what I should do? And yes, I know you all are going to say that I never should have done this in the first place. I know, I know, I know...it was stupid, very stupid. But, I'm going to be doing this whether I'm 18 or 30 or whatever, this is what I want to do with my life; catch people who want to hurt children.

Oh yeah, if anyone knows of anyway I can turn them in somehow I know a couple of their names, towns they live in, even the street one of them lives on, etc. I checked them both out on the sex offender list and neither are on it (using the info. they gave me, of course, I really don't know if it's true or not)..looked them both up on a people finder search thing and now at least ONE of them is lying because their age is different than the age they gave me. And I also know one of them signed up on a "teen girl lovers" website, which is just plain creepy! If anyone wants to help me, if you live in California, for example, I will try and get as much information from them as I can. I have all chat logs saved, etc I can send those, pictures, etc. I just don't really want my parents to find out, but if I can find a way to get these guys off of my hands and into someone who is more..well..professional, I will stop talking to them and will feel a lot better knowing that someday justice will be served.

Thanks so much guys and go ahead and lecture, I suppose I deserve it.

[Legoate]

You lack the maturity and experience to deal with these people. Let the police do their job and quit trying to save the world by yourself. You will have plenty of time to do that as an adult. Talking with sickos is infectious, if you continue to do it you will start thinking that their behavior is the norm and not the exception. Stay away from them.

If I was your father I would have already cut off your internet connection and blown up your computer.

Find something more productive and age appropriate to occupy your time.

[Samuel]

You lack the maturity and experience to deal with these people. Let the police do their job and quit trying to save the world by yourself. You will have plenty of time to do that as an adult. Talking with sickos is infectious, if you continue to do it you will start thinking that their behavior is the norm and not the exception. Stay away from them.

If I was your father I would have already cut off your internet connection and blown up your computer.

Find something more productive and age appropriate to occupy your time.

+1000!!! :rolleyes:

[mcsap]

You cannot save the world but you can save yourself ( or your dad will do it for you).

[MP_Steve]

You're heart may be in the right place, however, your brain is not.

Perhaps you could forward those SNs to Chris E. Hansen. :rolleyes:

[rapturer]

Thanks guys, this is pretty much exactly what I knew I was going to get. But, I still thought that maybe there was a chance there was someway, like I said, just to hand them off to someone else who could track them.

And yes, there is no question my heart is in the right place with this. I don't know if something happened to me in a "past life" or something but I am so passionate about this that I just couldn't wait until I was older to start.

I guess you guys don't share that with me. Honestly, though, I know that you, Legoate, live in California, if you lived near either of these guys and you have children I would be fearful for them. Even though I'm not a cop or a professional I know that these guys are very dangerous and have the potential to ruin, or possibly take a life.

[Plazoo]

I'm not sure how it all works but an option may be to contact someone with Perverted Justice, (they were the organization that did all of the To Catch a Predator stuff) and forward them the transcripts of your chat logs with the pervs. Maybe they can get some of their people in touch with your scrubs and hook them up that way.

Other than that, I'd take the advise offered by the others and get out now before your sticky situation gets really gummy.

[DeltaV]

Understand something.

If/when you actually apply for law enforcement jobs when you're older, doing something like this very well could end up getting you disqualified. It's not much different than someone "eager" to be in law enforcement putting a blue light on their car and trying to clean up an area of drug dealers. You have absolutely no business doing what you're doing, and if I were doing the background investigation of someone who was basically conducting 'criminal investigations' on their own for 'fun,' I'd find them unsuitable for hire.

[rapturer]

Wow. You really think I could get disqualified for doing something like this? That would pretty much be devastating.

And I honestly do not know how you could even say that I am doing this "for fun". I'm astounded that you even did say it! You truly think that I talk to these guys and get some type of enjoyment out of it? As if my friends invited me to the movies and I said, "I pass, I' d much rather be chatting it up with a 50 year old pervert." Please.

If an adult cop does talk to these guys there is always the issue of entrapment and that the guy is really talking to a 30 year old woman or something like that, so technically it's not illegal. But, they're talking to me. I'm underage. It shouldn't matter if I am doing this knowingly or just clueless to what is happening like a normal 12 or 13 year old girl. I didn't ask for them to send pictures of themselves to me or anything, they did it on their own free-will and what they are doing is illegal.

I guess the only real thing I can do is send something out to the FBI cyber tipline website thinger. Just thought of that, actually, I don't know why I thought of that earlier.

I just really hope what you said, DeltaV, is not true. I hope if someone doing a b/g investigation sees this they won't think, "Oh, that kid is bad, I don't want to hire her." I'm a really, really good person. I have never been in trouble. The worse thing I have EVER done in my life is download music on the internet. I hope that they will see that I'm just trying to do the right thing, and no it's not necessarily the smartest thing, but with my morals it is the right thing. Even though I may have to, it pains me to let these guys go back out into the world. No longer focused on me, they are going to try and find another victim. I'm even very willing to stop doing this if I can't find a way to get these guys into trouble. I will eventually stop if I can't find another solution. So, I just hope that I didn't really ruin my chances at being in LE. I just can't see myself doing anything other than it.

Sorry, after re-reading I just noticed that this post is really confusing with paragraphs just randomly scattered everywhere. I just moved stuff around a lot, but I guess I didn't put everything in the best possible place. I hope you guys understand it but I have to go to work now so I really do not have any time to change it.

[DeltaV]

Wow. You really think I could get disqualified for doing something like this? That would pretty much be devastating.

Absolutely. You're basically trying to conduct a criminal investigation on your own without any sort of sanction from a LE agency and without authorization. At best it's stupid and shows poor judgment, and at worst it can be looked at as trying to be a cyber vigilante.

And I honestly do not know how you could even say that I am doing this "for fun". I'm astounded that Tyou even did say it! You truly think that I talk to these guys and get some type of enjoyment out of it? As if my friends invited me to the movies and I said, "I pass, I' d much rather be chatting it up with a 50 year old pervert." Please.

You do this in your free time. It's not your job and you aren't paid for it. Nobody forces you to do it. So basically, it's your hobby. If you didn't get some sort of personal gratification out of what you're doing then you wouldn't be doing it. I'm not saying that you enjoy talking to perverts, but your personal gratification comes from the chance that these people will get into trouble with the law. Spin it any way you want, but you do this because you want to even though you know you shouldn't be doing it.

If an adult cop does talk to these guys there is always the issue of entrapment and that the guy is really talking to a 30 year old woman or something like that, so technically it's not illegal.

LE investigators are trained how to avoid the issues of entrapment. Also, the minute you begin collaborating with LE you're considered a law enforcement agent and the same entrapment laws that apply to LEOs apply to you too. And you are incorrect in believing that it's not illegal to solicit someone if they aren't really a minor.

I didn't ask for them to send pictures of themselves to me or anything, they did it on their own free-will and what they are doing is illegal.

I hope that you didn't send or receive any pictures that could be considered child pornography, as that would pose an even more serious problem on your part, whether or not it occurred during the course of your "investigation."

hope if someone doing a b/g investigation sees this they won't think, "Oh, that kid is bad, I don't want to hire her." I'm a really, really good person...I hope that they will see that I'm just trying to do the right thing, and no it's not necessarily the smartest thing, but with my morals it is the right thing...So, I just hope that I didn't really ruin my chances at being in LE. I just can't see myself doing anything other than it.

There was a cadet in the local academy who was caught putting a blue light on his personal vehicle and stopping traffic violators to lecture them. He was a good person who had never been in trouble before and his "morals" were in the right place, however it was WRONG. There were obviously some psychological issues with this guy for him to do what he did.

While you aren't out taking enforcement action, you're attempting to conduct a criminal investigation without any authority or authorization. While doing what you're doing isn't as serious as what that cadet did, it's still not smart and you still have no business doing it. Depending on the extent of what you've done and whether or not you've received stuff like child pornography, it definitely could have some serious ramifications.

[Swat1]

Look, I do this for a living. Every day my task force is out there conducting operations in order to identify, apprehend and prosecute the very individuals you are messing with.

We have strict protocols and procedures to do just that, that you quite frankly are not trained in. There are specific issues related to entrapment and evidence gathering and storage that I am sure you are not aware of. Be assured that if the guy is talking to you, he's probably talking to one of us. These guys don't do this in a vacuum. You are not special to them, they are chatting with tens if not hundreds of online personas.

You are doing more harm than good. To be honest, your making our job harder, not easier. So STOP! Let us do our job and do it right. In the case you cited with the MO trooper, all you did was take up her time and no results came from it.

What would you do if one of these guys sent you child pornography? Guess what, we would need to seize your computer. Child pornography is contraband, it's like cocaine. Once it's on your computer, your computer becomes evidence and we will seize it and if your lucky, at the end we will wipe the drive clean before returning it. In most cases the computer will not be returned at all due to the contraband.

Now to address DeltaV's concern and he is absolutely right. It has nothing to do with being "bad" as you put in your response, it has to do with you lacking the maturity level and making poor decisions. You need to understand your role. You are not a police officer, you are not trained to be a police officer, you are not a detective/investigator you are not trained to be one, yet you are out doing criminal investigations (not sanctioned ones, but an "investigation" per se of a criminal violation), NOT YOUR JOB! NOT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.

Take the information you have gathered to date, report it at www.cybertipline.org through the web sheet. You can remain anonymous and then STOP!!!!!!

Swat1*

[Kimble]

You are doing more harm than good. To be honest, your making our job harder, not easier. So STOP! Let us do our job and do it right.

This sums it up from the professionals that do the job day in, and day out. Suffice to say, if you're not trained in performing adequate, and LEGAL investigations into child pornography, DO NO DO IT YOURSELF!