Browns LB Busted in Prostitution Sting

This may not be a good first month for Cleveland Browns linebacker Quentin Groves, who was busted for soliciting a prostitute last week.

Groves was arrested as part of a prostitution sting operation in which a female police officer posed as an escort hired for "full service," The Huffington Post reports.

The 28-year-old LB pleaded no contest to a charge of disorderly conduct earlier this week. But could Groves claim this was entrapment?

What Is Entrapment?

Entrapment requires that a government agent (like a police officer) induced a person to commit a crime that they would have otherwise not committed.

Two ways to prove the entrapment defense in court include:

• Proving defendant would not have committed the crime without the undue persuasion or fraud of the government agent; or
• Showing the government agent encouraged the crime, creating a risk that swayed the defendant to commit it.

Neither of these defenses would likely be available to Groves, however, as he allegedly made arrangements via telephone with the undercover cop, and then arrived at a hotel with $195 in cash and a box of condoms, reports Cleveland's WJW-TV.

Prior Prostitution Stings

This arrest is the latest of many efforts by our nation's varied law enforcement units to crack down on illegal prostitution.

The stings have targeted online adult ads, including on Craigslist, promoting available women who then seal the deal by discussing their terms over email or by phone.

Because the viewing and responding to these online ads very often has no component of coercion or risk, the argument that police induced the defendant to click on the ad doesn't go over too well with juries.

Quentin Groves Apologizes

Although there is currently no word whether this incident will affect his contract with the Cleveland Browns, Groves stated last week that he is "committed to learning from this and moving forward," reports ESPN.

Odds are Groves will not be ordering anything by phone for a while.

Related Resources:

• Quentin Groves arrested for solicitation (NBC Sports)
• 'Catch a Predator' Lacks Credibility, Entrapped CA Man, Judge Rules (FindLaw's Celebrity Justice)
• Where Should the Second Circuit Draw the Entrapment Line? (FindLaw's U.S. Second Circuit Blog)
• Entrapment (FindLaw's LawBrain)