Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

cybersex in ca

I am 35, male, never been on chat rooms and got curious about them the last few weeks when my wife was away. I did not know the laws on IMs. Met this girl who said she is looking for older men on a yahoo chat room. She said she is 18 and legal to talk about sex. She provoked me so much, asked me if I would buy stuff for her, offered to play sex games, shared her pictures, offered to go out of town and get naked in front of me, to introduce her mom, dine out, showed interest in meeting w/ my wife and so much. I got little tempted and engaged in cybersex. I did not show any pictures, it was purely textual language. She showed so much interest, never stopped a word, kept provoking more with responses. Talked for about 4 hours. I started reading about the cybersex laws and law enforcement officers later and I am very worried now. I did not archive the conversation either which I later realized. I do not want to do it again, but the fact that I did it once worries me. Did I commit a crime? Can it be treated as crime?


Asked on 4/16/07, 9:04 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Stone Law Offices of Michael B. Stone Toll Free 1-855-USE-MIKE

Re: cybersex in ca

You must live in a cave, or you would have seen one or more episodes of Dateline NBC where they have a sting operation to bust horny old goats like you who show up at the home of the "girl." Week after week and month after month they show up at the door and are busted, by the dozen, like so many lemmings jumping off a cliff.

In your case, on the facts you presented, you had no knowledge that the "girl" was underage. But who knows, you might have violated one or two laws along the way, maybe in some odd redneck jurisdiction on the other side of the country, and some cop from there is looking to arrest and extradite you.

If I were you, I would format my hard disk 8 times, swear off cybersex forever, and pray that the statute of limitations in Peoria runs out.

And if a cop does show up at your doorstep and/or you are arrested, ask for a lawyer and do not make any other statement whatsoever; do not consent to a search; and do not volunteer to go to a police station unless you are under arrest.

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Answered on 4/16/07, 9:52 pm


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