An odd concept to me...

[Draft Dodger]

I'm not a huge fan of hxxp, but because of the word "sex" in the URL, I'll be considerate...

hxxp://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/01/24/sex.ruse.ap/index.html

It's a bizarre story on many cases, but the part I really have a hard time getting my brain around is bolded...

PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) -- A convicted sex offender attended at least two Arizona middle schools, sat through seventh-grade courses and turned in homework as he moved around the state pretending to be 12 years old, officials say.

Authorities in Yavapai County have accused Neil Havens Rodreick II, who is really 29, of assaulting a girl. They are not releasing details.

Rodreick was arrested last week after spending a day at the Mingus Springs Charter School in Chino Valley, about 90 miles northwest of Phoenix. (Watched how the baby-faced ex-con seemed to blend in Video)

School officials there called police after they checked what they called a phony birth certificate and other admissions documents.

He has been charged with misdemeanor assault, conspiracy to commit fraud, conspiracy to commit forgery, failing to register as a sex offender, and possession of a forgery device. He remains in the Yavapai County jail.

The sheriff's office there said Rodreick conned two men he was living with and having sex with into believing he was a young boy. One of them, 61-year-old Lonnie Stiffler, called himself Rodreick's grandfather when he tried to enroll him at Mingus Springs as "Casey Price."

Officials at another school, in the Phoenix area, said they were reviewing their admissions policies to figure out how they could have let an adult sex offender mix with students for so long.

"Our first priority is to help our students and our families establish a sense of security on our campus," said Rhonda Cagle, spokeswoman for the Imagine School at Rosefield, a charter school for kindergartners through eighth-graders that Rodreick attended sporadically from August to November.

Rodreick showed up August 14 at the Imagine School, officials said. He came to class from time to time, attending about 50 days until November, when administrators kicked him out for poor attendance.

"He was quiet," Cagle said of Rodreick. "He turned in his homework. There were no discipline issues. He was never sent to the principal's office. By most accounts he was aloof and kept to himself."

On Wednesday, officials of the Imagine School gave parents letters saying locks had been added to security gates and the school was working on a task force to evaluate parents' suggestions on school safety.

Parent Tricia Provost said as she dropped off her 10-year-old son and 6- and 8-year-old daughters at the school Wednesday that she wasn't worried. "I have a feeling this school is going to become the safest school in the country," Provost said.

Police say Rodreick may also have tried to enroll in other Arizona schools.

Authorities say Stiffler and Robert James Snow, 43, met Rodreick online, thinking he was a pre-teen, took him from Oklahoma to Arizona and carried on a sexual relationship with him.

They were arrested after authorities served a search warrant at their Chino Valley home Thursday along with Brian J. Nellis, 34, a friend who authorities say followed Rodreick from Oklahoma to Arizona.

The Yavapai County attorney's office said it charged all three, along with Rodreick, with conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to commit forgery. Nellis and Snow were also charged with failing to register as sex offenders.

Because Snow and Stiffler are accused of thinking they were having sex with a minor, they were charged with attempted child molestation and attempted sexual contact with a minor.

All four men remain in jail. Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk would not comment Tuesday, and county public defender's office did not return phone calls.

Nellis' older brother, Richard, said Rodreick met Brian Nellis more than 10 years ago while the two men were at Army basic training.

"When he got out of the military, he came back here and then left again to go to Fort Drum (New York)," said Richard Nellis, who lives in southwest Oregon. "The next thing we know he got out and is in Oklahoma with Neil, and that's when it started going downhill."

In 1996, police in Chickasha, Oklahoma, arrested Rodreick after a 6-year-old boy said Rodreick spoke about "bad nasty things," documents say. Rodreick was convicted in 1996 of lewd and indecent proposal to a minor and sentenced to prison.

A year later, Nellis was convicted of lewd molestation and was imprisoned for three years, Oklahoma records say.

I certainly don't condone any of the actions of any of the 4 lowlifes in this article, but I just don't get the bolded part. Because they thought they were doing something illegal, it's illegal. I just can't get my brain around that.

[rkmsuf]

at least he did his homework

[cuervo72]

Don't they do that in crime shows? Set someone up to commit a murder, but then go "ha-HA! These is fake bullets, dumbass!"

[Telle]

Sure it makes sense. They attempted to molest a child and they attempted sexual contact with a minor.. they just weren't successful because he was not actually a minor.

[rkmsuf]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Don't they do that in crime shows? Set someone up to commit a murder, but then go "ha-HA! These is fake bullets, dumbass!"

how come when someone is wearing a bullet proof vest they always get shot in the chest? doens't anyone go for the head shot?

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

how come when someone is wearing a bullet proof vest they always get shot in the chest? doens't anyone go for the head shot?

Really powerful magnets.

[Barkeep49]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

how come when someone is wearing a bullet proof vest they always get shot in the chest? doens't anyone go for the head shot?

Aim for areas of mass.

[Subby]

While they are being charged with those crimes, I would be fairly suprised if they held up...

[Butter]

I think this is the same reasoning they use when guys chat online with 14 year old girls, arrange to meet for sex, then get arrested when they show up and it turned out the 14 year old girl was a sheriff's deputy, or something. I started a thread like that a while back on how it's legal, how it was described to me was that it's all in the intent. If they intended to have sex with a minor, then that's how they are charged. Usually successfully.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

I think this is the same reasoning they use when guys chat online with 14 year old girls, arrange to meet for sex, then get arrested when they show up and it turned out the 14 year old girl was a sheriff's deputy, or something. I started a thread like that a while back on how it's legal, how it was described to me was that it's all in the intent. If they intended to have sex with a minor, then that's how they are charged. Usually successfully.

Yeah, I think that attempted is the key modifier. Those guys were intending to have sex with a minor. The only reason that modifier is needed is because the "minor" deluded them into thinking he was a minor when he wasn't.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

I think this is the same reasoning they use when guys chat online with 14 year old girls, arrange to meet for sex, then get arrested when they show up and it turned out the 14 year old girl was a sheriff's deputy, or something. I started a thread like that a while back on how it's legal, how it was described to me was that it's all in the intent. If they intended to have sex with a minor, then that's how they are charged. Usually successfully.

yeah, that's basically where I was going. I guess I'm torn, as I don't want to see these scumbags preying on kids...but my brain just can't get around the fact that we are prosecuting people for thinking they are doing something illegal, not actually doing something illegal.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

They are doing something illegal. You have to separate out the two laws here. Sex with a minor is one. They would never be guilty of this since there was no minor involved. But the other law is "attempted" sex with a minor. Clearly, this is what they did. As long as there is some overt action that takes place in furtherance of the attempt, then they can be convicted. And yes, it's similar to the discussion above about the blanks. If you grab a gun, think it has real bullets, and then shoot someone, you're going down for attempted murder (of course, not murder since they were blanks) even though they were blanks and never could have killed the person.

And that is the real point. We don't want people in society that would do something illegal to the point of taking that final action in furtherance of it. Better to put them behind bars now rather than wait for the actuall murder or rape to occur. I'm ok with this.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Vinatieri for Prez

If you grab a gun, think it has real bullets, and then shoot someone, you're going down for attempted murder (of course, not murder since they were blanks) even though they were blanks and never could have killed the person.

this is true?

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

this is true?

Sure it is. Shooting at someone with a gun you thought contained real bullets is not all that much different than shooting at someone with a gun (with real bullets) you thought was aimed to hit them. Missing the shot and "missing" by putting in the wrong bullets is basically the same thing.

Plus, in this particular case, blanks can be deadly from a close enough range.

Same with the attempted sex with a minor case. Trying to have sex with a minor and failing because the person wasn't a minor isn't that much different than failing because Daddy came home and stopped it. You are trying to commit a crime but failing.

[Toddzilla]

Originally Posted by BrianD

Same with the attempted sex with a minor case. Trying to have sex with a minor and failing because ...

There's a Cialis joke here somewhere....

[RendeR]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

There's a Cialis joke here somewhere....

they got the 36 second version?