> Are you still guilty of a crime if you only think you were going to commit a crime?
I'd argue that it's worth discussing whether it even matters. The goal of the legal system _should_ be to make society safer. Taking a sexual predator off the streets does make society safer, even if they didn't actually commit the crime. They did _try_ to commit the crime; they believed they were committing it.
Admittedly, this falls at least partially into the realm of pre-crime. Is it fair to lock someone up because they are _going_ to commit a crime? It's in the middle ground, because they did believe they were committing the crime. But it's still also very much in the gray area as far as morality is concerned too.
But then the question becomes whether they would have crossed the legal line if it had been an actual child instead of a bot designed to entice them. Maybe a real child would've been more hesitant and made them reconsider their course of action. Maybe a real child would've been genuinely innocent in a way that would've triggered their conscience. I'm not saying that's likely, I'm just saying this is a program designed to turn pedophiles into intended child molesters.
Because criminals are part of society and also need protecting from the government. Without that concept, we'd just have the death penalty for every crime, no matter how minor.
I'd argue that it's worth discussing whether it even matters. The goal of the legal system _should_ be to make society safer. Taking a sexual predator off the streets does make society safer, even if they didn't actually commit the crime. They did _try_ to commit the crime; they believed they were committing it.
Admittedly, this falls at least partially into the realm of pre-crime. Is it fair to lock someone up because they are _going_ to commit a crime? It's in the middle ground, because they did believe they were committing the crime. But it's still also very much in the gray area as far as morality is concerned too.