United States v. William Hart, II, No. 09-6554 (6th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseBased on online conversations with a detective posing as a 14-year-old girl, defendant was convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. 2422(b); knowingly using interstate commerce to persuade, induce, entice, or coerce any individual who has not attained the age of 18 years, to engage in prostitution or any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense or attempting to do so and attempting to persuade a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions (18 U.S.C. 2251) and sentenced to 180 months. The Sixth Circuit affirmed, rejecting an argument that an augmented jury instruction was required, so that jurors would have had to agree on which underlying state offenses were committed. The jury instructions posed no risk of confusion and the elements of the federal law do not require proof of underlying state law crimes. The federal laws are not unconstitutionally overbroad: the words "entice" and "persuade" have common meaning and the proscribed activities are not protected by the First Amendment. The sentence was not grossly disproportionate to the crime and did not amount to double jeopardy; the offenses have separate elements.
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