Text 10148, 86 rader
Skriven 2008-01-21 12:54:28 av Jeff Smith (1:14/5)
  Kommentar till text 10136 av Ward Dossche (2:292/854)
Ärende: Myths
=============
Hello Ward.

21 Jan 08 13:15, you wrote to Robert Bashe:

 RB>> MV> Yet, they are judged different: Menno Blom is judged a
 RB>> criminal, the
 RB>> MV> cop is judged innocent.

 RB>> You overlook the obvious difference: the cop didn't come to the
 RB>> Netherlands and try to arrest Menno. Menno _did_ come to the US in
 RB>> an attempt to meet his "girlfriend". Need I point out that
 RB>> ignorance of the law is no defence?

 WD> There cannot be "ignorance of the law" as having sex with a 14yr old
 WD> as an adult is illegal in any civilised society, so he knew that he
 WD> intended to commit a crime. Read "intended" ... but he did not do it,
 WD> at least not in this case. IMO Blom's transgression of the law was
 WD> merely non-compliance with Immigration form I94, item-B:

 WD>  "Are you seeking entry to engage in criminal or immoral activities?"

 WD> to which he answered "No".

     Didn't Blom also send pornographic pictures and realtime video of
himself engaging in lewd sex acts to the 13-14 year old? The 13-14 year
old girl is reported to have actually been a burly old male LEO. Reminds
me of a time about 25 years ago when I happened to notice a rather shapely
figure of a women in a pretty red dress as she walked into an elevator.
After she walked into the elevator then *HE* turned around. Talk about
feeling stupid. <g> I have always been a little tempted to ask for proof
ever since. <g>

     I will go out on a limb and say that I think there is somewhat of
a consensus that what Blom was wanting/trying to do was wrong and illegal
in many countries. The conflict as I see it is the judgement of some of
what does and does not constitute a crime and where that might be. In
Holland for example a particular action might not be a crime but that
same action elsewhere is a crime. In this case is sending porn of thyself
and/or others to a minor a crime? Here it is and that I believe is one of
the crimes that Blom was charged with in addition to federal charges
of crossing state lines with the intention of having sex with a minor.
Does the fact that he was a Dutch national make a differance? Does the
fact that some of crimes that he commited here via the internet while
still on Dutch soil make a differance?

     When the laws of differant countries are involved there are bound to
be conflicts both between law enforcement agencies and the people's of the
countries involved. Some look at Blom as being innocent and having commited
no crime. I submit that what he was trying to do and the actions that he
took in the process was a crime. A crime against children.


 WD> This form, as you know, is distributed on the flight. But the
 WD> accompanying text reads "If you answered 'yes' to any of the above
 WD> questions, contact the US Embassy before travelling because you may be
 WD> refused admission into the US".

 WD> Interesting ... you only get the form when you cannot contact a US
 WD> Embassy anymore, therefore you nearly are obliged to answer "no".

 WD> So, he may have a perverted mind, but the only crime he committed
 WD> according to the standards on this side of the Atlantic ocean is to
 WD> lie on a form. The penalty to that is immediate deportation at the
 WD> expense of the airline which brought him.

 WD> Also, when the Cook County sheriff's dept was aware of a possible
 WD> impending crime, according to the rules at the other side of the
 WD> Atlantic, he should've been put on a no-fly list ... a practice which
 WD> did already exist prior to 9-11 BTW.

    I think the logic was to let and also see if the suspect would come to
the US to further show intent and also provide for the opportunity to take
him into custody. That seems to be more the US way than to simply tell
suspects coming in go away and not come back.


 WD>  \%/@rd

 WD> --- D'Bridge 2.94
 WD>  * Origin: Many Glacier -o=O=o- Preserve - Protect - Conserve
 WD> (2:292/854)

Jeff

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