Powered by Blogger.
iTunes & App Store
Latest News

Man acquitted after To Catch A Predator show 'entrapped' him; judges says

Friday, August 19, 2011 , Posted by HTMZ.COM at 10:00 AM




A sailor who was accused of being a pedophile by a sting broadcast on NBC network has been acquitted after a judge threw the case out of court.

Twenty-six-year-old Joseph Roisman appeared on NBC Dateline's To Catch A Predator five years ago, where he was accused of trying to have secks with an online decoy posing as a 13-year-old girl.

But yesterday Mr Roisman's mother whooped with delight as a judge threw the case out after just six days of testimony and accused the programme's makers of entrapment.

'I'm ready to move on with my life,' Mr Roisman told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. He was kicked out of the Navy when the allegations became public.

Judge Arthur Wick found prosecutors had failed to prove Mr Roisman had a 'specific intent' to commit the crime he was accused of - attempting lewd acts with a child under age 14.

In reaching his decision, Judge Wick slammed the tactics used by online watchdog Perverted Justice, NBC's partner in the investigation, which he suggested lacked credibility and engaged in entrapment.

Mr Roisman had been on leave from the Navy when he was arrested after a three-day pedophile sting in Petaluma, California, in August 2006.

Perverted Justice volunteers posing as a 13-year-old girl living in the area contacted Mr Roisman through an internet chatroom and struck up an online dialogue with him.

During their chats, Mr Roisman suggested they 'cut up some fruit and eat it off each other' and asked the fictional teenager about the oldest person she had slept with, court documents said.

Mr Roisman eventually agreed to meet the girl at a Petaluma house. After travelling by bus from Watsonville, he stripped off his shirt as he entered the backyard of the home.

Dateline's television crew and host Chris Hansen were there to meet him. Mr Hansen has made a name and reputation for himself through his dramatic confrontations with suspects on the program.

After a brief conversation, which was recorded and broadcast, Mr Roisman was arrested by officers from the Petaluma police, which was also broadcast.

The defense team did not have an opportunity to present its case before Judge Wick stopped the trial and issued his verdict.

Currently have 0 comments:

Leave a Reply

Post a Comment