FL- Judge rules sex sting's tactics legal

How "at the direction of" translates to "consent" is a mystery, hopefully this case will be appealed.

12-3-2008 Florida:

BUNNELL -- An activist group was within the law when it recorded instant messages between one of its decoys posing as a teenage girl and a man arrested during a sex sting in Flagler Beach, Circuit Judge Kim C. Hammond ruled in a motion released Tuesday.

Stephen Holt, 21, of Orlando was charged with attempted lewd or lascivious battery, computer pornography and child exploitation, and transmission of harmful material to a minor after his arrest in the Dateline NBC TV's "To Catch a Predator" sting in December 2006.

Prosecutors said Holt thought he was chatting with a 13-year-old girl but in reality it was Eric Joseph Walker, a Fort Walton Beach hardware store manager and volunteer for activist group Perverted Justice.

Holt's attorney, William Jay, argued in his motion that, according to Florida law, Walker needed Holt's consent to record his online chats but he never received it. That being the case, Jay argued that any evidence against Holt should be thrown out.

In ruling against Jay, Hammond wrote that the Flagler Beach Police Department called Perverted Justice to conduct the sting, "thus the investigation occurred at the direction of the Flagler Beach Police Department." ..News Source.. by FRANK FERNANDEZ, Staff Writer