Entrapment- Enticement of a minor

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Robert Anderson

Case No.: 22-1301

Officials: Wood, Hamilton, and St. Eve, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Entrapment- Enticement of a minor

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, appellant Anderson was charged with and convicted of attempted enticement of a minor in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b). Anderson has appealed on one issue: whether he offered sufficient evidence of entrapment to have the jury instructed on that defense. In United States v. Mayfield, 771 F.3d 417 (7th Cir. 2014) (en banc), 7^th Circuit clarified that legal standard. 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.

Remanded, Reversed and Affirmed.

Decided 12/15/22

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