Wrt the Seattle case, it sounds like King County tried to trump this up as some sort of sex trafficking ring (I remember talk of a private "club" when the charges were first handed down). Then, when they found out they couldn't make that stick, they pushed for lesser charges and community service for those who just wanted to make it go away. In the end, they're not getting a lot of bang for the buck, and it doesn't sound like a model most communities want to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to emulate.
Originally Posted by TinMan
You are partially right. King County received a grant from the Federal government to investigate sex trafficking. To their disappointment, when they began investigating, they discovered there was no sex trafficking taking place. They reacted to this by lying to the media to save face and portraying what they did as "recovering victims from sex trafficking". In reality, no one was trafficked. They didn't "recover" anyone. They stole the girls' money and forced them to leave. The girls are now providing in Los Angeles.
However, that is a little different from the stance they have taken on review writing which is actually completely separate from the K-girls case. The initial charges occurred at the same time but the continuing charges are related to review writing alone.
Where you are wrong is your claim that defendants were allowed to plea to lesser charges. This is mostly incorrect. Only one of the defendants charged with review writing was allowed to plea to a misdemeanor and that was because. . .get this. . .he did not actually post his review! You're reading this right. . .the poor guy didn't even post the review he wrote and was still charged with a felony (later pled to misdemeanor)!
Apart from him, everyone else was forced to plead guilty to felony charges with a plea deal (most involving jail time) or face the possibility of about 12 years in prison.
For writing reviews.
I don't know if this is what people "want to hear" but it is the reality of what happened and what is likely to happen again based on the continuing "success" they are having in bullying people into accepting felony and life-altering plea deals.
I think people have a hard time processing and accepting this and are lashing out at me as a result. I am on your side. I am horrified about what LE did and got away with in this case and I am doubly horrified that it sets them up to do it again.