As a hobbyist I'm always concerned about being targetted and getting busted. But I'm not sure whether that's a real concern or paranoia? Would LE go as far as placing a fake add on the web, getting someone to come over, and busting them? I've never heard of that? Has that happened? Besides, isn't entrappment illegal anyways?

Somehow it seems unworthy of all the effort for a small catch. Also, if the add/photo is eros-verified, is that any reassurance?? I realize reviewed providers are much safer, but occasionally you've got to take the plunge.
Thanks for any insight or reassurance.

Your comment "come over" implies that the environment is maintained by them..( a sting) This can happen and they can do this.

Better scenario..if last minute..go with your Gut instincts..as normally they are correct and never mention money.

They can lie..and being defined as undercover need not disclose the fact that they are the law.

Pandering laws imply money for sex...and this is a vast area of exposure..and one must be careful.

Setting up a sting like you describe is not entrapment.  Entrapment occurs when the police put so much pressure on the suspect that he commits a crime he would not have committed on his own.  Offering you an opportunity to break the law is legal, but actually causing you to do it is not.

Well, it seems you're asking two different questions, one being what is entrapment.  Entrapment is a police officer prevailing or requiring you to perform an act or to commit a crime which you would not have done BUT FOR the policeman's insistence.  Easy example:  You have a suspended driver's license.  You allegedly know where there's a crack house.  Cowboy Sheriff's deputy doesn't want to be made in his cruiser, so tells you, "Drive me over there to check it out."  Afterwards, disappointed with the drug search, he arrests you for driving on a suspended license.  Obviously entrapment (and a true story).

Now, as for running stings, sure, cops do it.  USUALLY, they seem not to target outcall to a house, but you never know.  I wouldn't have outcall to my residence for that reason, among others.  They TEND to concentrate on street traffic, as that is where the complaints and the visibility come from.  As for thinking "they won't bother with me--I'm small fry," look around.  A LOT of resources get tied up in vice and narcotics.  When they can't control the rates of violent crime, additional resources are often put into vice raids, etc., as a morale-builder and to give the dept. some decent PR.  When violent crime does go down, those resources are available for non-violent offenses.

Just remember:  police depts., like a lot of us (including yours truly) and ESPECIALLY like any bureaucracy, go for what is easy and simple.  Solving homicides is work.  Stopping a burlarly ring or armed-robbery ring is actually more difficult.  Actually proving a rape case is a nightmare.  Breaking a cycle of matter-of-course street violence in a small part of town can take years.  Doing trick sweeps and rousting johns who are scared to death because they really don't have much contact with the criminal-justice system is easy.

Whoever told you to follow your instincts is right--if you have a bad feeling, listen to it.  Hope that's useful.

Thanks for the feedback. I realize they CAN do it. But have you ever heard of this actually being done (at least in the SF bay area)?

Thanks for the feedback. I realize they CAN do it. But have you ever heard of this actually being done (at least in the SF bay area)?

Read the post in the thread right above this one.

I'm not a legal expert so I tend to agree with you about it being a waste of time for LE to go through so much trouble for a few arrest. One thing I can say is that an eros verified photo doesn't mean much. There have been a few provider's advertising with eros verified pic's that weren't them. Most are probably real picture's of the provider but not all.