Pre-Crime Hits California

Remember how, in Minority Report, people who were about to commit crimes were arrested moments before they did?  Well, maybe MySpace is a good substitute for having precogs.  Today's CNN headline "Sex crime suspect nabbed after boys' Web prank" reveals that a 48-year-old man was arrested in Fontana California after arriving at a park to meet a 15-year-old "girl" fabricated by some boys on MySpace:

The five boys had created a fake profile of a girl on MySpace.com -- a social networking Web site -- to cheer up a friend who had recently broken up with his girlfriend.

But soon, a man began sending messages to the "girl" and their conversations began to have sexual overtones, said Fontana police Sgt. William Megenney.

The man also sent the "girl" his picture and arranged to meet her at a public park. The boys went to the park and, when the man arrived, they called police.

Now, I don't know what you think, but this seems pretty odd to me.  Talk about victimless crimes!  So, we're arresting this man because he "had evil thoughts" about a fictional girl.  Maybe somebody who knows California law better than I do will explain this to me.

Or, is there more to this?  The next paragraph says:

Michael Ramos, 48, of Fontana, was booked into West Valley Detention Center on Monday for investigation of felony attempted lewd and lascivious conduct with a child and for an outstanding warrant, Megenney said.

Maybe the folks at CNN are just sensationalizing?  Despite the entire article's focus on the bizarre link between the MySpace "girl" and the arrest, perhaps the real facts of the case have been completely obscured.  The "outstanding warrant" sounds like this is a legitimate suspect for a crime unrelated to the one CNN is attempting to fabricate.

Anyone who argues that mainstream media has integrity, objectivity, and professionalism should really think twice.

Comments

[Jim Hillhouse]

Trying to figure out California law would be, for me at least, like trying to figure out quantum mechanics. Except that California law is inherently irrational and illogical while nature is not.