<HTML>Okay, but 1. Ritter was arrested and charged IN ALBANY, not in federal court. So for whatever reason the federal law was not invoked. 2. If the federal law were invoked, wouldn't there be a nasty states right dispute brewing because state ages of consent are lower than the federal one and because some state statutes are more nuanced about age differences between the parties and / or gender of the participants. 3. What if the person doing the inducing is a horny minor, say a 13-year-old emailing his friend's 16-year-old sister? Is that possibility just taken care of in general somewhere else in the federal code? This of course does not change whether Ritter knows what he is talking about with respect to weapons inspections. Plus he has two daughters that are like 9 years old and presumably he has thesame "no one is good enough for my kid..." reflexes as other fathers. DoreneC DoreneC In a message dated 1/24/2003 8:16:05 AM Pacific Standard Time, andie_nachgeborenen@yahoo.com writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px"> See 18 USC § 2422 (Coercion and enticement) (a) Whoever knowingly persuades, induces, entices, or coerces any individual to travel in interstate or foreign commerce, or in any Territory or Possession of the United States, to engage in prostitution, or in any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense, or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both. (b) Whoever, using the mail or any facility or means of interstate or foreign commerce, or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States knowingly persuades, induces, entices, or coerces any individual who has not attained the age of 18 years, to engage in prostitution or any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense, or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both. See also UNITED STATES v. JOHNSON, 221 F.3d 83, 86 (2d Cir. 2000) (appeal of sentence involving a guilty plea of individual who had sex with (among others) a sixteen year old girl he met on the internet). CREDIT(S) __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com </BLOCKQUOTE> </HTML>