United States v. Anderson, No. 22-1301 (7th Cir. 2022)
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After exchanging hundreds of messages with an FBI agent—who posed first as an 18-year-old woman and then as a 15-year-old girl—and driving to a planned rendezvous at a gas station, Anderson was convicted of attempted enticement of a minor, 18 U.S.C. 2422(b). Anderson appealed whether he offered sufficient evidence of entrapment to have the jury instructed on that defense. Seventh Circuit precedent holds that a defendant who offers “some evidence” of both government inducement and his own lack of predisposition is entitled to have the entrapment defense submitted to the jury.
The Seventh Circuit remanded for a new trial in which Anderson should be permitted to present his entrapment defense. On this record, a jury could find government inducement in the form of “subtle, persistent, or persuasive conduct.” As for predisposition, Anderson had no record of any sexual misconduct or any other offenses against children. It was the government agent, not Anderson, who first suggested a criminal liaison. Anderson repeatedly expressed reluctance, and the agent responded with persistent coaxing and persuasion. Anderson agreed to meet for sex with someone he thought was an underage girl but whether his entrapment defense should succeed was an issue for the jury.
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