In case you’re wondering if persons arrested in law enforcement sex sting operations can go to prison, yes, they can.
The threat of such a fate awaits a former pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, who was one of 27 people arrested in a multiagency underage sex sting operation recently in Florida.
Austin Dean Maddox, 33, of Jacksonville, is among those accused of soliciting sex over the internet from people they believed to be children, or minors. The arrests were made by officers participating in a 5-day project called Operation Valiant Knights.
According to the Daily Mail, the former athlete was ambushed by police who were waiting to arrest him at a site where he and an undercover cop, posing as a 14-year-old girl, had arranged online for a meeting. Video provided by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office reportedly shows Maddox resisting arrest until 6 cops, including a K9 unit, became involved.
He is being held in jail on a $300,000 bond.
Sex sting charges could bring years in prison, high fines
Maddox faces 4 felony counts, including:
- Traveling to meet a child after using a computer to seduce/solicit/lure a child (a 2nd-degree felony)
- Solicitation of a child via computer to engage in sexual conduct (a 3rd-degree felony)
- Unlawful use of a two-way communications device
- Produce/promote performance, which includes sexual performance by a child younger than 18 years old
The “traveling to meet” charge could bring punishments of up to 15 years in prison and a fine of as much as $10,000. The solicitation charge could bring penalties of up to 5 years in prison and a fine of as much as $5,000.
Investigators said Maddox had “expressed a desire to commit lewd acts” with a girl (again, played by an undercover officer online) after they began communicating via chats online on April 28. Officers said Maddox conveyed an intent to have sex with the girl even after she told him that she was 14.
He then allegedly agreed to meet the girl at a pre-arranged location, where he was arrested by law enforcement officers, including SWAT and narcotics detectives.
A criminal defense lawyer for Maddox said he intends to fight the allegations against him.
A promising career interrupted by injuries and challenges
Maddox was a high school baseball star in Florida and played baseball in college for the University of Florida, where he was named the 2010 SEC Freshman of the Year and played on 3 College World Series teams.
He was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2012. In 2017, after several seasons in the minor leagues, he made his major league debut with the team.
Maddox played in 13 games for the Red Sox during the 2017 campaign, posting a stellar 0.52 earned run average. But he was sent back to the minors as part of his recovery from shoulder injuries, and in 2019, he was released from the team.
How old were sex sting suspects?
USA Today reported that other suspects in the multiagency undercover sting operation in Florida ranged from 19 to 69 years old. One man reportedly sent a nude photo of himself to an undercover detective whom he’d thought was a 13-year-old girl.
Others who were nabbed in the sex sting face charges ranging from coercing sexual activity to human trafficking.
Lt. Justin Wilson of the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit said, “The undercover detectives are doing their best to identify and arrest these individuals that are on the internet trying to sexually exploit children.”
Maddox’s arrest report indicates that he was using a website for an escort service and initiated a conversation with an undercover agent who’d been posing as a 14-year-old girl. The conversation then continued via text messages.
Are Texas sex crime laws also harsh?
The answer is yes. Texas online solicitation sex stings can bring charges whose punishments—set forth in Texas sex crime laws—can be harsh, like those in Florida.
Among sex crimes involving a child or minor (someone under the legal age of consent, which is 17 in Texas), one charge is sexual assault or statutory rape of a child. That is a 2nd-degree felony with possible penalties of as many as 20 years in prison and a fine of as much as $10,000.
Aggravated sexual assault of a child is a 1st-degree felony in Texas with penalties of up to 99 years or life in prison if the child was 14 or younger when the assault was made.
Such harsh punishments when a sex charge involves a child or minor make it clear that it’s vital to know your legal rights if you face an accusation, allegation, claim or charge of a Texas sex crime involving a child—or, in the case of online solicitation of a child, someone the defendant believed was a child.
How Serious is Punishment for Online Solicitation?
Learn about how recent court rulings affect someone’s ability to be tried, convicted and punished for online solicitation in Texas.
What are sex sting defense strategies?
You should know that an experienced sex crime defense lawyer, as can be provided by Houston’s award-winning Neal Davis Law Firm, can apply tested sex string defense strategies.
One such strategy could be establishing “entrapment” of the alleged offender. Entrapment by law officers is an illegal method of provoking a law-abiding citizen to commit a crime that they otherwise could not be expected to commit.
However, while a claim of entrapment can be used as a criminal defense in some cases, it’s difficult in Texas to use entrapment as a criminal defense against a charge of online solicitation of a minor.
That’s because, under Texas sex crime laws, it makes no difference if the person contacted by the adult is a police officer and not a minor, as long as the adult who’s later charged with the crime believed the police officer was a minor.
Besides entrapment, another potential defense strategy for those arrested in sex sting operations is challenging the legality and conduct of the sting operation itself. That means holding law enforcement procedures up for scrutiny to make sure there was no violation of privacy rights and all evidence was collected and handled according to proper legal protocols.
A knowledgeable defense lawyer can identify possible procedural errors or rights violations, which could substantially affect the outcome of a case.
Get a skilled Houston-area sex crime defense lawyer
If you or a family member faces such a charge in the Houston area, you must get a skilled Houston sex crime defense lawyer to fight for your legal rights. Not everyone who’s accused of online solicitation of a minor is guilty of the crime, and every defendant deserves his or her day in court.
Neal Davis has managed to get charges reduced for many of his clients and sometimes even dropped before trial. He has also managed to gain acquittals for clients whose cases have gone to trial.
Contact us today to get a confidential consultation for your sex crime case. Your future—and your freedom—may depend on it.
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