By Tiara M. Ellis / The Dallas Morning News. 06/06/07

Collin County prosecutors say they dropped charges in 23 sex-predator cases stemming from stings in Murphy because they couldn't prove crimes were committed here. Part of the problem, they say, was a lack of cooperation from the Internet watchdog group that set up the stings.

That group, Perverted Justice, has fired back on its Web site, calling the prosecutors liars trying to deflect blame for the dropped cases.

Perverted Justice worked with Murphy police and the television show NBC Dateline last year to lure alleged sexual predators to a house in Murphy. They used a chat room decoy pretending to be a teenage boy or girl.

Last week, Collin County First Assistant District Attorney Greg Davis announced his office would not prosecute the cases, calling the evidence insufficient. He declined to comment further, citing an office policy.But queries from the public prompted him to write an e-mail this week giving a more detailed explanation.

"In many cases, we found that we had no legal jurisdiction to prosecute because legally the crime occurred outside Collin County," he wrote. "In many cases, we could not prosecute because Perverted Justice refused to answer our questions, refused to participate as witnesses, or refused
to turn over potential evidence."

He went on to say, "... We advised all concerned that we were in the law enforcement business - not show business."

Perverted Justice founder Xavier Von Erck sharply criticized Mr. Davis and his office in a lengthy Web posting.

He said members of his group were never asked for more evidence or to be witnesses. If they had been, he said, they would have cooperated completely.

"We've gone from questioning the competency of the Collin County prosecutor's office to questioning their sanity," said Mr. Von Erck, who describes himself as a 27-year-old from Portland, Ore.

Perverted Justice became involved at the invitation of Murphy Police Chief Bill Myrick and City Manager Craig Sherwood, neither of whom could be reached for comment this week. A scheduled interview was canceled.

For the Murphy sting, Perverted Justice volunteers spent weeks going into chat rooms pretending to be 13- and 14-year-olds. They waited for men to contact them, chatted online, then let Murphy police review the conversations, Mr. Von Erck said.

Mr. Von Erck said the Murphy house was used only after police said there was sufficient evidence.

Texas law does not require a meeting to take place for a crime to occur.

For the charge of online solicitation of a minor, the Internet chat is enough.

But to prosecute the cases in Collin County, Mr. Davis said in an interview Wednesday, the suspect or intended victim must be using a computer in the county or the Internet discussion must have run through a server in the county.

"If none of those are present that communication did not occur here and we can't prosecute even with a confession. They can confess here, but if a crime didn't happen here," Mr. Davis said. "In the majority of these cases that was the case."

Mr. Von Erck said in response to an e-mailed question that some of the Perverted Justice volunteers were in Collin County conducting chats, along with others doing the same in other parts of the country. But the group's server that recorded the chats was in Collin County, he said.

Mr. Davis said jurisdiction was only part of the problem. Perverted Justice volunteers hindered any further investigation by not cooperating, he said.

Mr. Von Erck said his volunteers received one phone call asking whether they had a contract with Murphy police and requesting a copy of the contract between Perverted Justice and NBC Dateline.

As proof of his group's value and its methods, he pointed to nearly 200convictions since the creation of the Web site in 2004.

California's Riverside County Sheriff's Department and districtattorney's office worked with Perverted Justice and NBC Dateline in 2006. They made 51 arrests, according to news reports and the PervertedJustice Web site.

He said that while Perverted Justice was helpful, his office "relied onthe sheriff's investigation and case preparation for the filing of criminal cases."

"A lot of people blur the lines because they think of informants orneighborhood watch groups. But you rely on them to provide you withinformation, not to do the investigations.

Before the Murphy operation, a Collin County prosecutor sent a letter toChief Myrick saying the district attorney's office would not take partin the planning or execution of the sting, but would "vigorously"prosecute any solid cases.

"I did not like the way the integrity of our prosecutors was beingattacked," he said. "I just did not want to let that go unchallenged,because I knew we had acted in full integrity."