NESCt to hear appeal of Internet pedophile sting

Appeal claims Omahan was set up in sex sting LINCOLN (AP) - Omaha man found guilty of internet child enticement in Douglas County District Court has his appeal on the call of the Nebraska Supreme Court claiming the police entrapped him. The Nebraska Supreme Court will hear an appeal Sept. 9. Ronald Cody was convicted after chatting online with a 14-year-old "girl" in 2003 who turned out to be a State Patrol officer posing as a teen in an Internet chat room.S-04-1042, State v. Ronald W. Cody (Appellant) After more than an hour of conversation laced with sexually explicit language, they agreed to meet at a library, where Cody was arrested.Cody was convicted of conspiracy to commit first-degree sexual assault on a child. Douglas County District Judge Gregory Schatz sentenced Cody to 30 days in jail and three years of probation, including 120 days of electronic monitoring. He also was required to register with the State Patrol as a sex offender.Cody's lawyers argue that their client was entrapped - meaning that he was enticed into committing a crime that he otherwise would not commit. A 2002 ruling by the high court that said Omaha police broke the law by placing false magazine advertisements and exchanging letters with a man who was arrested in a pedophile sting. State v. Canaday, 263 Neb. 566 Filed March 29, 2002. No. S-01-150. In that case, Ronald Canaday was arrested after responding to an ad in a swingers' magazine placed by Omaha police officers in 1998 that said: "Lisa . . . Single mom looking for right man who likes kids and understands needs!" Assistant Attorney General Kevin Slimp said Cody's trial judge was correct to rule that although Cody was induced to commit the conspiracy, he had been predisposed to commit the crime before talking with the undercover officer. Nebraska lawmakers passed a bill in 2004 that created the crime of enticing a child using a computer.28-320.02 Sexual assault; use of computer; prohibited acts; penalties. also applies to make defendants attempting to entice undercover officers guilty of the crime: "No person shall knowingly solicit,coax, entice, or lure (a) a child sixteen years of age or younger or (b) a peace officer who is believed by such person to be a child sixteen years of age or younger.." Recently the WD Mo Federal Court set aside the conviction and directed acquittal of an internet stalker uner 18 USC 2422 on the technicality that he was actually stalking an undercover officer, something the federal law does not explicitly addressed. Other federal circuits (US v Meeks, 9th Circ 2005) however had upheld convictions (the 10th and 11th Circuits) even though the defendants had been stalking undercover agents.