PeeJ has been denounced for using overly aggressive decoys to bait targets, even though the group insists the decoys always wait for the target to initiate contact. But sometimes the decoys are the first to steer the chat sexual, ruining the chance the chatlog will stand up as evidence in court and making PeeJ - and now Dateline NBC - vulnerable to claims of entrapment.9 Legal experts say entrapment is difficult to prove under any circumstances, and the defense has not thus far been successful for any of the men caught in PeeJ or Dateline stings.
By definition, the conduct of private citizens cannot be considered entrapment; it is defined as actions by government agents that induce or persuade a person to commit a crime that he or she had no previous intention to commit.12 In most of the chats published on the PeeJ website, it is clear the defendants had a stated intention to commit a sexual act with a minor, rendering the entrapment defense moot.
Even when the decoy is the first to bring up sex, NBC executives defend the network's actions. "The transcripts show that once the hook is baited, the fish jump and run with it like you wouldn't believe," said Stone Phillips of NBC. "These Internet predators not only seize upon the sex talk, they take it to disturbing levels of lewdness with startling speed...And since the stated intent of the house visit is to have sex with a minor, the ultimate responsibility lies with the men who come knocking on the door, no matter who initiates the meeting."13