MA- Falmouth man faces charges in alleged Internet sex crime

12-6-2008 Massachusetts:

FALMOUTH — Timothy Hagan, a convicted sex offender accused of trying to persuade a girl to watch him perform a sex act online earlier this year, was in court yesterday trying to get the charges against him dismissed.

The 43-year-old Falmouth man was arrested in July by Massachusetts State Police after allegedly asking a 14-year-old Florida girl to watch him masturbate on the Internet. Hagan is a convicted sex offender in Virginia, where he was convicted on 10 counts of possession of child pornography of a child under 18 in 2007.

Hagan received a 12-month prison sentence and nine years of probation upon his release. When the new charges surfaced, Hagan was held at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility.

Robert Nolan, Hagan's attorney, said the state of Virginia declined to come after his client, and therefore Hagan was released in September and will be tried in Massachusetts.

Hagan was in Falmouth District Court yesterday for a motion to dismiss the charges of enticing a child under the age of 16 for sex and the dissemination of matter harmful to a minor.

Nolan argued that the enticing charge does not apply because it has to be accompanied by an intent to violate the rape statute.

He also said there could be no intent to lure the victim into a location like a building, room or car because the alleged incident occurred on the Internet.

"You have to have more than just language because that's protected by the First Amendment," Nolan said. "There was no invitation in this case."

Prosecutors said Hagan knew the child was under 16. Furthermore, the enticement part of the statute is met simply by Hagan's attempts to keep the conversation with the minor going for as long as possible.

The prosecution and defense both said these types of cases that occur online are part of a new era and often affect the way laws are interpreted and written.

District Court Judge Bill Reilly called the legal arguments of the case "compelling," and wished he had an entire day to hear them.

Instead, he gave both sides two weeks to submit arguments. On Dec. 19, Reilly said he will take the matter under advisement and issue a decision later this month.

..News Source.. by Aaron Gouveia