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Law Student Can't Beat Rap for Craigslist Ad

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posted on Mar, 15 2014 @ 12:41 AM
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I almost put this in general conspiracies because it almost seems like it. I have to say, I am very uncertain how to take this, based on what the story here presents. Take a look and see what you may think as a reader?


Harry McMillan had been in his second year of law school at Southern Illinois University when posted the ad in question on Craigslist.
An undercover officer answered and arranged a meeting at a movie theater with someone he said was his daughter.
McMillan arrived at the theater to meet the undercover officer and "the daughter," played by a female worker in a state agency.
When the woman went to the rest room, McMillan asked for the nude pictures of her that he had requested. The officer handed him an envelope and McMillan was arrested when he attempted to open it.


Now this part sounds pretty straight forward. Anyone who has watched a few episodes of 'To Catch a Predator' knows these people come from all walks of life. I saw a teacher, a trucvker (who arrived in his Covenant Transport bobtail... nice touch..lol) and even a Marine NCO. So, a law student wouldn't be a stretch by any means. Just more pervy meat for the prison grinders....except?


At trial, McMillan claimed he had posted the ad to lure a child molester whom he could confront. McMillan claimed that he himself was a victim of childhood sexual abuse and wanted to ask the molester questions pertinent to his own experience.

McMillan's claims didn't persuade the jury, which convicted him after a three-day trial.
Source: Courthouse News

This would be a good time to mention just what his Ad said, which is what really hits me as the strongest piece of evidence to make me question it all and wonder if he really was doing what he claims. See, you'd think pervy people would be subtle. Quiet. Careful. You'd think people who actually do these things and have given thought to being on the defendant side of a courtroom wouldn't take stupid chances or advertise what they do for God and everyone to see. His ad title?

"Sell me your teenage daughter"

Now does that sound like the ad title "Chester the Molester" would drop to seriously troll for victims....or like what a naive law school student who didn't know squat or how much of that he didn't even know yet, might post?

I'm just curious what others think, by reading it? Perhaps it wouldn't even strike me as odd here except for a very good book I read with real insight about Manson, Gacy and others. That was also a University student...Law, I believe. He'd run off to make pen pals and put together a study which also became a book about the experience. Much like this though..he just thought it up and did it, not asking or informing anyone in the start.

I just wonder sometimes.... Can some charges be so inflammatory by their very nature, that the rare case of things not being what they might seem...won't even be seen or considered for the blur of disgust the topic itself generates among even professionals?
edit on 15-3-2014 by Wrabbit2000 because: (no reason given)



posted on Mar, 15 2014 @ 12:52 AM
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The sick part of this is that there are really people willing to post what he posted. The sicker part of it is that some PARENTS are more than willing to answer the ad.

He's full of crap on his excuse IMO. If it had been a regular person, I doubt he would have stood up like Goober hollering "Citizen's Arrest" to the rafters. I hope he gets what's coming to him. By reading it, I think it is disgusting. But I am a parent of a teenage daughter... maybe that clouds my judgement a bit?
edit on 3/15/2014 by Kangaruex4Ewe because: (no reason given)



posted on Mar, 15 2014 @ 12:55 AM
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reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe
 


I suppose it is telling and a sign of either his bad luck or how well covered the cops now have this that the two contacts they knew he'd tried to make were both undercover cops.

I guess he was too stupid to stay free, whether he meant this or not. Just didn't have the sense God gave a goose.



posted on Mar, 15 2014 @ 12:58 AM
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reply to post by Wrabbit2000
 


I'll give the guy points for effort on trying to explain that ad to the jury but I think they saw through it. Some people are just dumb and I believe you (and the jury) pinpointed one of them.

Nice try but no cigar.



posted on Mar, 15 2014 @ 01:00 AM
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Wonder what was in the simultaneous email thread with "Kellie" aka, undercover cop



posted on Mar, 15 2014 @ 01:04 AM
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reply to post by Wrabbit2000
 


I Dunno Wrabbit
If I was to target a specific molester, I'd do my research and target him personally, throwing a net over the ocean so to speak has little chance of catching this one man in particular.

But this guy was a law student and should have known better

As BFFT would say.........................The stupid runs deep in this one

Cody



posted on Mar, 15 2014 @ 01:05 AM
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Wrabbit2000
reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe
 


I suppose it is telling and a sign of either his bad luck or how well covered the cops now have this that the two contacts they knew he'd tried to make were both undercover cops.

I guess he was too stupid to stay free, whether he meant this or not. Just didn't have the sense God gave a goose.


Bad luck indeed.

Some folks are indeed, too stupid to keep breathing it seems. I would be curious to know how many times he's actually done this and didn't get an undercover cop. I don't guess he will be volunteering that information though.



posted on Mar, 15 2014 @ 01:36 AM
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reply to post by Bassago
 


I suppose it's just the sheer, limitless depths of pure dumb I have trouble accepting at face value sometimes. Just a sense of..'Nawww..He couldn't really have been THAT stupid, could he'? Like advertising for a Hitman in the Soldier of Fortune Classifieds. Doh! Who do you figure you'll get called by first? A cop assigned to read them at publish time or a real responding to cold ads?

Then again.. I guess they really busted a few that way too, huh? Dumb may actually have no limits. That's a scary thing to consider



posted on Mar, 15 2014 @ 01:51 AM
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This just goes to show that no matter how much education a person has, that does not mean they are smart.



posted on Mar, 15 2014 @ 01:58 AM
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reply to post by Wrabbit2000
 




Dumb may actually have no limits.


I just dunno but they seem to be everywhere so you may be correct. I think it's our one inexhaustible natural resource. Just think if we could harness that energy.




posted on Mar, 15 2014 @ 02:02 AM
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reply to post by Bassago
 


Oh now, be nice. She may just have been auditioning for the next Final Destination movie. You know, for one of the expendable idiots that always dies right away, before everyone figures out they're all going to die in order.

Then again..maybe she really was checking to see if it was loaded.

(pssst... I hear pushing that curved thingy on the bottom makes the tube part light up, making it much easier to see if a bullet is comi....err...loaded.
)



posted on Mar, 15 2014 @ 02:09 AM
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Does that 11 year sentence seem draconian to anyone else? Maybe he had a prior record, but that sentence seems way to long for basically being an idiot.



posted on Mar, 15 2014 @ 03:38 AM
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If he was trying to confront someone like the person that had abused him then why did he want someone's daughter ?

You would think that he would have used an ad that would attract someone looking to abuse a young boy and not some A-hole willing to pump his daughter .

A lot of the guys that get caught on TCAP say ...um I was just gonna tell her not to do this stuff cause its dangerous or some other BS ,but they bring alcohol and condoms...these people don't deserve to walk on this planet ,they are the absolute lowest form of human life that exists. And IMO 11 years is not long enough



posted on Mar, 15 2014 @ 05:51 AM
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He's full of crap...he wanted to live out his catholic girl fantasy.



posted on Mar, 15 2014 @ 06:36 AM
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reply to post by Wrabbit2000
 


He is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, which seemed to have occurred. What confuses me about this is the fact he is a law student. As such he should know lawyers do not get special exemptions when they engage in a law enforcement function. They are not empowered, and as such, it can blow up in their faces, as it apparently did here.

The argument he made is one of the reasons why the laws in this area require certain actions in order to violate the law. Its like solicitation, the act of asking for sex is one thing, however when followed up with the act of agreeing on payment, you just went over the line (don't get me started on victimless crimes, this is an example).

If he wanted to confront, then he should have done so once he made contact and gone from there. It might have worked out better in his favor. The manner he chose screwed him pretty good, especially with his legal profession studies.

As for Dateline they have had some issues in the past in various states, specifically the manner in which they have set up the meets. I know a few PA/DA have refused to file charges because of the conversations themselves. It moves from solicitation of a minor to entrapment / coercion when the conversation is stopped by the "suspect" only for the "child" to reinitiate contact and push for a meet (forcing a person to take an action they normally would not have otherwise taken).

This is one of those areas where you make sure all the T's are crossed and all the lower case j's are dotted. Case law being made by law enforcement in this area can have a devastating affect on any future laws / prosecutions.



posted on Mar, 15 2014 @ 09:14 AM
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Xcathdra
reply to post by Wrabbit2000
 


He is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, which seemed to have occurred. What confuses me about this is the fact he is a law student. As such he should know lawyers do not get special exemptions when they engage in a law enforcement function. They are not empowered, and as such, it can blow up in their faces, as it apparently did here.

The argument he made is one of the reasons why the laws in this area require certain actions in order to violate the law. Its like solicitation, the act of asking for sex is one thing, however when followed up with the act of agreeing on payment, you just went over the line (don't get me started on victimless crimes, this is an example).

If he wanted to confront, then he should have done so once he made contact and gone from there. It might have worked out better in his favor. The manner he chose screwed him pretty good, especially with his legal profession studies.

As for Dateline they have had some issues in the past in various states, specifically the manner in which they have set up the meets. I know a few PA/DA have refused to file charges because of the conversations themselves. It moves from solicitation of a minor to entrapment / coercion when the conversation is stopped by the "suspect" only for the "child" to reinitiate contact and push for a meet (forcing a person to take an action they normally would not have otherwise taken).

This is one of those areas where you make sure all the T's are crossed and all the lower case j's are dotted. Case law being made by law enforcement in this area can have a devastating affect on any future laws / prosecutions.


And even hypothetically speaking ....if he was just trying to meet with a sex offender and do his own research....what a stupid move...and ...can you imagine having someone like that representing you?
edit on 15-3-2014 by Meldionne1 because: Spelling via auto corect



posted on Mar, 15 2014 @ 09:22 AM
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reply to post by Xcathdra
 


I think people are just VERY VERY naive at times, for being one of the problems. Naive and ignorant. I mean the well meaning folks, too. Not the pervs playing like one.

I'm not sure how the private organizations that Dateline uses to get the suspects do this. I can say when I called the FBI in the mid 90's on a kiddie porn site (yup..actually called them direct. They answer too! ...and that damn site is still there, too) they were oddly blunt, bordering on rude....which is not a condition I expect from desk people in an FBI field office.

What they told me tho was simple. No one was going to go after a website based on a citizen complaint. They couldn't tell me, even if there were something being done. Lastly...they strongly recommended against looking for any more, since, they helpfully told me, confirming the nature of the site I was reporting meant I was good for a felony arrest and conviction already.

Leave it to the feebs to really kick someone in the family jewels while literally trying to report something. I never forgot tho...



posted on Mar, 15 2014 @ 10:07 AM
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Meldionne1
And even hypothetically speaking ....if he was just trying to meet with a sex offender and do his own research....what a stupid move...and ...can you imagine having someone like that representing you?

I would rather represent myself...

It does not exude confidence to the jury when a person accused of a crime is being represented by a lawyer who was accused, charged, tried and found guilty of a crime.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000
 


Laziness on their part. They should also know that browser hijacking / redirect can occur. The fact you reported it would raise questions as to why you went to the site, which could be resolved by explaining how you got there aside from going direct.

99% of crimes are reported by a citizen so I am not sure what logic they are using in that regard. If it happens contact customs and border patrol, since apparently this is in their area now. At the very least you did your due diligence and made an effort to report it.



posted on Mar, 15 2014 @ 11:01 AM
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reply to post by Wrabbit2000
 


What a strange and depressing tale. I have to say, i really am not sure on this (fence sitting time!). The reason i say this is due to a complete lack of knowledge as to his background.

What is do know is that during the many years i have spent (some could say wasted!) in Higher Education, i have come across literally loads of students that had led such sheltered lives that they genuinely didn't realise that they were not the centre of everyone's universe - by that i mean that they wouldn't even consider that anyone had a differing point of view or that people wouldn't understand their actions. If this chap falls into that category then it is entirely possible that he is telling the truth (but scary that such a person was considering a career in law).

On the other hand, he could just be full of c#!* and it is another scumbag off the streets.

Honestly though, those of you that have also spent years in Higher Education will know the sort of person i mean.



posted on Mar, 15 2014 @ 11:18 AM
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reply to post by Wrabbit2000
 


Law students are not exempt from being stupid perverts. When he graduated, was he going to be a defense attorney?

Just because someone wants to be a lawyer doesn't mean they believe in the law or decent behavior, it just means they wanted to have a career that paid a nice wage, that's all.




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