Soliciting for Sex with a Minor Not a Good Idea

It is never a good idea to intentionally solicit sex with someone who you know to be a minor. And even if you don’t realize they are minors at first, once you become aware of it you should cease and desist all communications. A recent Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals (DOHA) case caught my eye due to the fact that the applicant only had one criminal offense in 2016 but was denied reinstatement eligibility. The reason for the denial? Here are the highlights:

This married 33-year-old defense contractor who had had a clearance since 2010 was temporarily separated from his wife in 2016 due to employment after having been married for only three months. He claims to have become lonely and depressed and was having a hard time meeting new friends. He decided to surf the internet on a site called “Wet and Lonely” and saw an ad from a female wanting to be taken care of sexually. He initiated communications and the female, at some point, told him she was almost 16 and wanted to meet while her mom was out of town. He readily agreed and drove 30 minutes to the agreed upon location only to find out it was a sting; the girl was actually a law enforcement officer. He was arrested and charged with communication with a minor for immoral purposes via electronic communications. Two years later he was found guilty and is now required to register as a sex offender.

His testimony during his DOHA appeal hearing regarding the arrest and what his intentions were in meeting the girl differed greatly from the arrest report transcripts. It seemed he was still in a state of denial about what happened and why he acted the way he did. Although there were plenty of mitigating factors considered, the judge was of the opinion the contractor exhibited exceptionally poor judgement in attempting to engage in sexual activity with a minor and not enough time has passed without premeditated misconduct to eliminate doubt about his reliability, trustworthiness and good judgment. You can read the entire case summary here.