The question asks for the ethical ramifications of law enforcement agencies (LE) working with the private organization Perverted-Justice.com (PJ) to catch internet pedophiles who are seeking out children in chat rooms for real-life meetings.
PJ appears to be acting in an quasi-informant capacity. LE uses informants all the time to monitor criminal behavior and build cases. The use of informants by LE is legal and court-sanctioned with appropriate supervision. Ethical questions arising from the use of informants include the following facts: the informant is acting deceptively; informants are often under criminal investigation or sentencing themselves and thus may have motivation to lie; and the monitoring of individuals with informants can raise Fourth Amendment concerns.
To avoid an entrapment defense by the target, the informant carefully documents how the target took the initiative, and the informant also avoids leading behavior. Chat rooms offer excellent documentation, as all chat is preserved. PJ appears to have gained special expertise in engaging pedophiles in chat, and LE is availing themselves of this expertise. The choice to move from the internet to real life is entirely that of the target.
Getting back to PJ, the fact that children are involved makes this a special case. Children cannot defend themselves; they are vulnerable and easy to exploit. The law treats crimes against children with extra care and consequences. Pedophiles are also historically difficult to catch and hard to convict due to the special circumstances involving child witnesses.
Regarding the ethical questions raised in using informants, we see that PJ has no motivation to lie, as they are not themselves under any LE suspicion, and all their actions are well-documented. PJ also acts in public chat rooms, where there is little or no right to privacy under the Fourth Amendment. Vigilantism is avoided here because PJ is working with LE rather than instead of LE.
The remaining ethical question of deception of the accused must be weighed against the cost of the crime being prevented. Studies show that pedophilia is compulsive behavior and that pedophiles often have dozens and sometimes hundreds of victims before they are stopped. Worse, some children who are molested become pedophiles themselves. Stopping a pedophile can arguably prevent crimes against children for generations.
LE cooperation with PJ is not likely to have any effect on the ability of these stings to work, since it has been commonly known for years that some of the persons in chat rooms who say they are children might not be children at all. The wide public exposure of these stings on TV has not stopped pedophile chatroom activity. Also, if a pedophile is caught and enters the justice system, they then have a chance at rehabilitation, which they would likely never seek out for themselves otherwise.
While many child safety experts have praised Perverted Justice's attempts to protect children, others criticize the group's methods, which are outside the legal system. Many critics believe that the group engages in entrapment, which is illegal, by luring or forcing the men into asking the person posing as a child for sex. In addition, the group targets people who have not been convicted of a crime and subjects them to harassment, thereby infringing on their due process rights under the law. In other words, people who are accused of a crime have Constitutionally granted legal protections that Perverted Justice does not afford them, including the right to a fair trial. These are some ethical considerations related to the group's practices. Therefore, some critics believe that the police should not work with this group. However, it could also be argued that if Perverted Justice works with the police, it will abide by laws protecting the rights of defendants in our criminal justice system.
Other critics also believe that the tactics of Perverted Justice potentially drive pedophiles underground. If they know that they might be exposed by seeking sex on chat rooms, potential pedophiles might seek other ways to connect with potential victims. Law enforcement agencies might be better able to catch pedophiles outside the scope of working with Perverted Justice, as the methods of Perverted Justice are now fairly well known.
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