[QUOTE=NoNamed;3005664]Since when is a therapeutic massage a crime? If there is zero mention of anything sexual, and I legitimately need a good massage, I don't see the crime for showing up for one.[/QUOTE]That's the whole point. It is NOT a crime, but if it's a police sting, they will arrest and charge you ANYWAY. Then it's up to you and your attorney to either get the charge dismissed or get acquitted at trial. You might well get off, but it can be a long, expensive road, and there's every opportunity for something to go horribly wrong. For example, you might not have said anything incriminating, but the arresting officer might LIE and say that you did. You will be convicted 100% of the time in such case. Even if the officer does not lie, there's a good possibility that the judge will not dismiss the charge despite the lack of evidence. Then you're headed to trial. Do you want a jury trial? That can be very expensive, and there's no guarantee you'll be acquitted. On the other hand, you opt for a bench trial? It can be quicker and cheaper, but judges convict people all the time without sufficient evidence. Once convicted, you're stuck behind the 8-ball trying to get the conviction overturned on appeal -- a long, expensive proposition. In the meantime, your wife (if you have one) might file for divorce and you could lose your job. Even if the charge gets dismissed, you're acquitted, or if your conviction is overturned on appeal, you're stuck for the rest of your life with an arrest record. You'll have to acknowledge and explain it every time you apply for a job or for a government clearance, and it could very well limit your professional prospects. Conviction or no, the damage could be extreme.
Here's an example of why you should take every precaution to avoid any run-ins with the criminal justice system. A professional acquaintance of mine, who was under 30 at the time and who had no prior arrests and a spotless reputation, was once charged with a bogus DUI in New Jersey. He smelled of liquor because someone spilled a drink on him shortly before he decided to drive home, but he had only consumed one beer that evening. He was given a field sobriety test which he said he passed, but the officer arrested and charged him anyway. He was given neither a breathalyzer nor a blood alcohol test, despite him insisting on having one or the other. Being very late at the time of his arrest, he had to spend the night in the drunk tank, and his car was impounded. In the morning, he bonded out. Then he had to pay a towing and impound fee to get his car back. He then got an attorney to represent him, so he wrote a check for a $5,000.00 retainer. At his bench trial, the officer claimed that he failed the field sobriety test, for which there was no dash-cam or other video. The judge then offered my acquaintance an opportunity to change his plea from not guilty to guilty, rather than be convicted, explaining that his sentence would be MUCH more lenient were he to plead guilty and accept responsibility. The judge further explained that he would stand a good chance of having his conviction overturned on appeal, but he would be appealing from a jail cell. My acquaintance's attorney was outraged, but ultimately advised that the best course of action would be to plead guilty. Otherwise, an appeal would entail an additional retainer of $20,000. 00, but there was no absolute guarantee of success. In the end, he took the plea, paid a $1,000.00 fine, and had to complete an AA program. Aside from the $6,000.00 in legal fees and fines, he paid thousands more in higher insurance premiums for years thereafter. He also had to report the incident to his employer, since he did work on classified Government contracts. Though he avoided losing his clearance / job, he has had to periodically revisit his DUI every time he changed jobs or had his clearance up for review over the 25 years since it happened. For those who have anything to lose, an arrest -- even a bogus one -- can cost you dearly.
