This is a sentence that actually exists in this world:
“A Northern California prosecutor used his 13-year-old daughter to lure a man back to the spot where she said he had molested her, so the man’s incriminating actions could be recorded on video, according to a newspaper report Sunday.”
What. In The Actual. F**k.
In case that alone wasn’t bonkers enough for you, the prosecutor told law enforcement that he’d already deployed this strategy multiple times.
“He stated that they had already done this several times,” San Jose Detective Sgt. Sean Pierce wrote in the police report on the case. “He directed (the victim) to let (the suspect) touch her if she encountered him, but if it was the breast or between the legs to move away. He instructed (the victim) to let (the suspect) identify and make the contact and if she cannot handle things she should move away. He instructed (the victim) to walk back and forth on the designated route and don’t interact with anyone for very long.”
How does anyone think this is okay? The prosecutor, who is unnamed to protect his daughter’s identity, is reportedly being investigated for possible child endangerment charges because, you know, this police report is basically the definition of endangering a child.
The prosecutor’s daughter told authorities in October that she had been molested and during the ensuing police investigation, the prosecutor apparently decided to play To Catch A Predator with his own almost certainly traumatized daughter and potentially screw up the investigation in the process. The California AG’s office is taking over the investigation because obviously the local prosecutor’s office is wildly conflicted.
This is what prosecutors are supposed to be telling cops not to do.
Report: Prosecutor used daughter as bait to catch molester [Sacramento Bee]