Dummmmmmb, dumb, dumb, dumb

When Jay Leno does his "Headlines" on Monday nights, he likes to poke fun at dumb criminals. He could have a field day with the people who are getting snatched up by the various police efforts to catch child predators. The latest story was published in today's O-R about Joseph Johnson, who coaches (well, used to coach) boys basketball at Avella High School and served as a substitute teacher in several area school districts. As in most of the other cases, police allege that Johnson was engaging in dirty talk and sending sexually explicit photos of himself to a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl. In fact, he allegedly was carrying on with a Monroe County police officer who was posing as a teen. The stupidity of these people (including a former O-R sports editor) is mind-boggling. "To Catch a Predator" was one of the most popular shows on television. Just about weekly, we see a story on TV or in the newspaper about some guy who gets caught in one of these stings by local police or the attorney general's child predator task force. Are these folks living in caves? Do they think they're too smart to get caught? If what police are saying is factual, Johnson might be the biggest dope of them all. Authorities say he identified himself as "Coachjoe32." Let's see. He's a coach. His name is Joe. He's 32 years old. Jeez. Why didn't he just include his mailing address and phone number?