Green Oasis

Luke Dittrich at Esquire magazine has written an excellent, provocative article about the death of Bill Conradt at the hands of To Catch a Predator. (via kottke.org) I mentioned this case last July in Jailbait, a post that generated some wonderful discussion. The article poses these questions, echoing some of the ideas expressed in the previous discussion:

Is it possible that Bill Conradt, an adult pretending to be a teenager, might have suspected, correctly, that “Luke” was also an adult pretending? Yes: Everybody knows that the Internet is a swamp of false identities. And is there any evidence that Conradt had ever acted on the longings that his chats illuminated? On the contrary, he chose not to when presented with the opportunity. Was it morally wrong for Bill Conradt to engage in online sex chats with an apparent child? Of course. But did his actions merit the response to them? Before answering this question, a man should take stock of the history of the desires he’s never acted on, and whether he should ever have to defend that history in court, or see it detailed on television.