Is Getting Catfished a Crime?
The bad news is that the Internet, with its anonymity and its hyperreality, brings out the worst in everyone. The good news is that almost nothing on the Internet is real. Every time you go to YouTube or Tik Tok to relax for a few minutes after a stressful phone call with a family member and a long shift at work after a night of insufficient sleep, you see people saying and doing horrible things. If it is any consolation, the vast majority of them would never have the courage to say these things to your face. Is it a crime if you, like everyone else, are at your worst online, where everyone misunderstands each other, sometimes on purpose? You can get criminal charges just for saying something online that would be bad if you meant it. It is easier to talk your way out of trouble regarding offenses that consist entirely of prohibited speech, though. If there is additional evidence that your speech was not a matter of misunderstanding, and that you meant to do what you said, though, you are in a considerably tighter spot. Here, our Miami sex crimes defense attorney explains what is off limits regarding online communications between adults and minors, as well as the rights you still have even when someone assumes the worst about you.
Miami Man Gets Criminal Charges for Internet Crimes Against Children
Months ago, a teenage girl and an ostensibly young man struck up a conversation in the lobby of the building where the girl lived. Upon exchanging phone numbers, the girl told the man that she was 12 years old, which was true. The man, Yosvany Fernandez Gonzalez, told the girl that he was 27, when in fact he was 37. The two exchanged text messages, some of them sexually suggestive; they also exchanged suggestive photographs.
Gonzalez Fernandez and the girl made plans to meet in the laundry room of the girl’s building on a Wednesday afternoon, but when the girl asked for her mother’s permission to leave the apartment, her mother would not let her go. The mother grew suspicious of her daughter’s behavior that afternoon, so she looked at her daughter’s phone and found the messages the girl had exchanged with Gonzalez Fernandez.
The girl’s mother called the police and gave him her daughter’s phone, and the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit of the Miami Police Department took over the investigation. An officer continued exchanging texts with Fernandez Gonzalez, pretending to be the girl, and offered to meet him at a Target. When Gonzalez Fernandez arrived at Target, he did not find the girl, only police, and they arrested him.
You Can Be Convicted of Online Solicitation of a Minor, Even If the Minor You Solicited Does Not Exist
The strongest evidence that the police have against Gonzalez Fernandez is that he followed through on his plans for a meetup at Target. Plenty of people have been charged with online solicitation of a minor, and some of them have been convicted, even when the teen chat partner they traveled to meet did not exist. Sometimes undercover police officers go on social media just to catfish adults who seem like they are keen to flirt with people that they think are underage. If an undercover cop texts you saying, “I’m 15,” and later in the exchange of messages, you say, “Let’s meet at Target,” this counts as online solicitation of a minor, because there is evidence that you thought you were about to go on a date with a 15-year-old. In most such instances, the entrapment defense does not work, because the undercover cop did not coerce you into saying that you planned to meet up with a 15-year-old with whom you had been chatting online.
Defendant Faces House Arrest While His Case Is Pending
As for Fernandez Gonzalez, he is facing four counts of possession of child exploitative material because of the photos that the girl sent him. He is also facing charges for traveling to meet a minor, lewd and lascivious conduct on a child, and electronic transmission harmful to minors. The court set his bail at $55,000, and he paid the bail. While he is free on bail, he is on house arrest. He must wear a GPS monitor, and the court has ordered him to stay away from the girl and her place of residence.
Contact Our Criminal Defense Attorneys
A South Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are being accused of Internet sex crimes. Contact Ratzan & Faccidomo in Miami, Florida for a confidential consultation about your case.
Source:
nbcmiami.com/news/local/miami-man-who-was-sexting-with-12-year-old-arrested-when-he-tried-to-meet-her-police/3473117/?_osource=taboola-recirc
