South Carolina Supreme Court Rules on Solicitation of Minor
The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled against William Gaines in his appeal of a jury verdict finding him guilty of Solicitation of a Minor. This is a relatively new statute in South Carolina. Gaines was charged with 3 counts of solicitation and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. This case presented several trial issues that were appealed. The most interesting issue was the attempted use of the entrapment defense. Gaines was solicited by law enforcement after he reached out to what he thought was a minor in Philadelphia.
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) then made contact to Gaines via the internet. They portrayed themselves as a 13 year old girl in Columbia, South Carolina. The trial court allowed Gaines messaging to the Philadelphia police to be admitted to the South Carolina jury, even though Gaines was not charged with a crime related to these communications.
Next, the court ruled that Gaines was not entitled to the entrapment instruction to the jury. The court rule that for entrapment to be presented the defendant must show some government inducement and lack of predisposition to commit the crime by the defendant. In this case, the State and Court are relying on Gaines prior actions to defeat his request for the entrapment instruction. If there is any doubt about the giving of the instruction, it should be given.
The South Carolina Statue on Solicitation is as follows:
"(A) A person eighteen years of age or older commits the offense of criminal solicitation of a minor if he knowingly contacts or communicates with, or attempts to contact or communicate with, a person who is under the age of eighteen, or a person reasonably believed to be under the age of eighteen, for the purpose of or with the intent of persuading, inducing, enticing, or coercing the person to engage or participate in a sexual activity as defined in Section 16-15-375(5) or a violent crime as defined in Section 16-1-60, or with the intent to perform a sexual activity in the presence of the person under the age of eighteen, or person reasonably believed to be under the age of eighteen. (emphasis supplied)."
A good Columbia criminal defense lawyer would have to make every effort to ensure that the entrapment defense is viable and the jury instructions is read. There are only a few defenses to solicitation of a minor. Alibi, entrapment, misidentification and legal impossibility. These defenses must be examined by the criminal defense lawyer.
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