Be Careful Who You Send Text Messages To

It’s important to be careful who you are sending text messages to. Even if they are deleted, there is still a chance those messages could be recovered. Consider the following case.

In the recent case of Pierre Duclos-Lasnier versus the State of Florida, Mr. Duclos-Lasnier was convicted of, among other things, attempted lewd or lascivious battery on a female twelve years old or older but younger than sixteen. The case began when Duclos-Lanier sent some sexually-suggestive text messages to a 13 year old girl. Even though the girl deleted those text messages from her phone, a police officer was still able to later retrieve some of them. That officer then sent text messages to Duclos-Lanier from the young girl’s phone, all the while pretending that he was actually the girl herself. Duclos-Lanier took the bait and sent some more sexually-suggestive photos of himself to the girl’s phone, not realizing that it was actually a police officer whom he was sending them to. When Duclos-Lanier arrived at a coffee shop intending to meet the young girl, he was arrested instead.

When the case went to court, Duclos-Lanier asked the judge to dismiss it because he did not, in fact, send sexually-suggestive text messages to a young female but rather to an adult police officer. Therefore, he argued, he could not possibly have committed the crime of attempted lewd or lascivious battery on a female twelve years old or older but younger than sixteen. The judge didn’t buy it. He said that Duclos-Lanier did, in fact, attempt to send text messages to the young girl. It just so happened, however, that he actually sent them to an adult instead. Therefore, the judge did not dismiss his case but instead sentenced Duclos-Lanier to prison for 72 months.

If you are facing criminal charges in Florida or have any questions regarding criminal defense, contact me at 561-832-4348. You can also connect with my West Palm Beach Law Office online. I am an experienced defense attorney and am dedicated to defending your rights. Call today for a free consultation!