Topic: Criminal Solicitation-Specific Intent
Summary: Where a person is charged with criminal solicitation, the defendant must have the specific intent to commit the underlying offense. Therefore, unless the defendant meant to commit or facilitate the underlying crime, s/he can’t be found guilty of solicitation.
Illustration: Rape of a child under the age of 13 is a strict liability crime. In other words, no matter how old you thought the victim was, you will be found guilty if you had sexual contact with someone under the age of 13. For solicitation to commit rape of a child, however, the defendant has to intend to induce someone to have sex with someone under the age of 13. Since Hacker did not realize the victim was under the age of 13, she could not have been guilty of solicitation to commit rape of a child under the age of 13.
