So who really did the luring and who instigated and encouraged illegal activity with a child? Correct answer: The sheriff's department. But it's not entrapment if he was predisposed to commit the act.

Here is the Polk County Sheriff's Office press release. (pdf) Check out the agencies involved. Where was the FBI? Surely between March 12 and today Polk County and HSA had the opportunity to contact them. Given Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' stated priority of cracking down on child porn, and the high number of cases brought under federal law, why is this one being prosecuted by the state officials?

CNN reports that Polk County officials say Doyle confessed when arrested.

In interviews with police, Doyle confessed and has agreed to waive extradition to Florida, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.

Confessed to what? To soliciting the girl or a girl he believed to be 14? Did the posing deputy announce on the internet or in a chat room or during a phone call she was 14? They taped phone calls and seized computers at his home in Maryland that likely will have the answer.

One thing we don't need is stronger penalties for internet sex offenders and child pornography. In 2003, Congress passed the PROTECT act which increased federal sentencing guidelines and created new mandatory minimum sentences. See, 18 U.S.C. Section 2251, Sexual Exploitation of Children. A first offense carries a mandatory minimum 15 year prison sentence.

The feds are now investigating, and they will search the computers to see how many images of underage girls are on it. If there's enough to fit their guidelines, Doyle will face additional federal charges.

I hope the authorities have the sense to house him in segregation if he's denied bond. He will not be safe in the general population of any prison, state or federal.

Update: Regarding the other HSA official who plead to indecent exposure in the same court today, I think the coincidence is that they both happened in Polk County Florida, (Lakeland, Tampa) a bastion (if that's the right word) of the evangelical right, and that they are both local law enforcement busts. Also, Doyle's was a sting. Was Figeroa's victim a plant too? According to this report, no. But why did the newspaper publish her name if she's a juvenile and a sex offense victim? Isn't there a policy against that?

Rachel Wright, the 16-year-old who reported the incident, said Figueroa pulled up a leg of his shorts, exposed himself and masturbated for about 10 minutes.

Here's the answer from the Tampa Tribune:

Although TBO.com and The Tampa Tribune have a policy against publishing the names of victims in sex cases, Wright and her mother, Cleme Consalvo, have chosen to go public.

Ten minutes? Any guys want to weigh in on that one?