It's already well estabilished and detailed how attempts/failed crimes are handled; I won't go into details (did it fail because of external circumstances or your choice? what was the intent? etc).
But if I try to hire a hitman on a virtual 3d character or Easter Bunny, it shouldn't be a prosecutable crime. In attempted crime there should be a victim that I attempted to harm.
I can agree that the entrapment / undercover cop scenario might make it properly prosecutable, depending on how it's done. I'd be willing to bet that in most of the cases if you'd get a warrant then you'd get evidence of actually harmed kids making the case very clear. However, if the perpetrator knows that the "target" is virtual and noone is harmed, then it shouldn't be illegal.
Yes, it's correct. Giving it more thought, I agree that the scenario of original article should be prosecuted, barring issues of entrapment, unless the perpetrator understood that it's a fake (and he didn't).
That still leaves a point about such "avatars" being legal if made/bough/sold for recreational purposes if everyone knows that noone is getting harmed. i.e., treating childporn as evil not in itself, but because it's evidence and financing for actual evil acts.
But if I try to hire a hitman on a virtual 3d character or Easter Bunny, it shouldn't be a prosecutable crime. In attempted crime there should be a victim that I attempted to harm.
I can agree that the entrapment / undercover cop scenario might make it properly prosecutable, depending on how it's done. I'd be willing to bet that in most of the cases if you'd get a warrant then you'd get evidence of actually harmed kids making the case very clear. However, if the perpetrator knows that the "target" is virtual and noone is harmed, then it shouldn't be illegal.