Council Buffs City Councilman Darren Bates claims he only wanted a massage, not sex, when he answered an ad on the website Craigslist earlier this month. Bates was among six men cited during a prostitution sting. Apparently, they all answered the same ad and a meeting was arranged at a Council Bluffs motel.
Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilbur says the issue of entrapment is being brought up. Wilbur says, "If a person wants to raise it and say, ‘They talked me into it, they entrapped me,’ then, that just adds another element that we have to prove." Wilbur says in Iowa, they would also have to prove that the defendant was predisposed to do something like this.
Wilbur says, "We have to prove to a jury, beyond a reasonable doubt, using the totality of the circumstances, what was intended." The next court appearance for Bates is March 13th. At least one other member of the city council has called for Bates to resign.