Internet Sex and Minors

Due to previous commitments at home last Friday, I could not attend the men's cookout and meeting at my church. This was providential, as always, because I got to watch a Dateline report on internet predators (To Catch a Predator III). This was the third report they have done in the past few years, and while previous operations had only gotten about two dozen men to show up after internet chats promising sex with a minor, this time the setting was southern California, and they netted 50 men in the same three-day period.

This time, however, Dateline coordinated with the local police department (and an internet activist group) who arrested all 50 men, one at a time, in a joint sting operation. Some of the men arrested had criminal backgrounds, including violence and rape, and some had done time in prison. Several already had convictions for child molestation and were registered sex offenders. All of them had chatted online with a decoy posing as either a 13-year-old boy or girl and planning sexual acts. To show intent, the decoy asked the targets to bring condoms, alcohol, or other things. By showing up with the items, the men showed an intent to do what they discussed online with the decoy.

But most did not have criminal backgrounds. One of the man was a minister. One was an active federal agent in the Dept. of Homeland Security. One was a popular local high school teacher. One was an actor, one a successful musician. Many were husbands. Many were fathers. The age range was 18-65, all men, from a surprising range of professions and socio-economic status.

I watched with mixed emotions. What the men were hoping to do was wrong, and that's too soft a word for it. It offends God, shows an utter lack of fear of Him, and is abject rebellion against Him personally and His decrees.

But I also watched with compassion. How could I not? I, too, am a sinner, and I know what it's like to feel under compulsion, to be guided by desires that dishonor God, to be in bondage. I know the feeling of helplessness that these men expressed.

I wanted to hate them. I wanted to call them "pervert", like the website that coordinated the sting with Dateline. Do you know what the near universal response was when Dateline confronted the men in the house where they were expecting to engage in sexual acts with a minor?

"I'm a horrible person."
"I'm wrong."
"This will destroy me."

I'm not saying they're not responsible. But I'm not for adding to their bondage by calling them names. How can one sinner call another sinner "pervert"? A Pharisee can. A self-righteous Christian can. But not the humble Christian who fears God and knows his sin.

No one is beyond God's grace, not even these men caught in this sting. Should they go to jail? Yes, if they broke the law. Should we point our fingers at them, pronounce judgment on them, and feel better about ourselves for not having their particular perverted sin? Hell, no.