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Revision as of 23:21, 21 September 2006
To Catch a Predator is a series of hidden camera investigations by the television newsmagazine Dateline NBC devoted to the subject of identifying and detaining potential child sexual abusers who attempt to contact children over the internet. The stories, which have all been done by Dateline NBC correspondent Chris Hansen and producer Lynn Keller, are conducted as an undercover sting operation with the help of online watchdog group Perverted Justice. Since the third installment, law enforcement officials have also been involved in the operation, leading to many arrests.
The To Catch a Predator series is so popular that it was even parodied at the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards with Hansen and host Conan O'Brien in a pre-filmed opening sequence. (See video here)
Method
The method used to catch would-be predators is derived from that normally used by Perverted Justice. Perverted Justice volunteers build profiles of a clearly underage person on social networking websites and enter chatrooms as decoys, waiting for predators to initiate a chat. Such chats, which are always logged, sometimes turn sexually graphic, and some of those result in appointments for sex.
For the Dateline NBC stories, would-be predators are actually invited to an undercover house used by Dateline NBC for the duration of the operation; in accordance with Perverted Justice policy, phone contact is always established with a suspected predator before any appointment is set up. The visitors are led to believe that the supposed minor is home alone, and upon coming inside the house, are soon confronted by Hansen, who interviews each one at length about their intentions. After this, Hansen identifies himself as a Dateline NBC correspondent and informs the visitor that the entire interview has been recorded on hidden camera as part of the Dateline NBC story. If law enforcement officials are involved in the operation, the predator is then promptly arrested, occuring outside if they leave the house.
Interviews
During interviews, would-be predators often claim to not know how old the supposed minor is, until confronted by Hansen with the chat logs, which show the decoy clearly identifying as a minor. Interviewees also often claim never to have solicited online before, and, in some cases, claim to be only trying to teach children about the dangers of the Internet.
Investigations
New York City
The first in the series aired in November 2004 as a Dateline NBC segment called Dangerous Web. The operation was set up in a home outside New York City, to which eighteen men came over less than three days after making an appointment for sex with a minor.
Washington, D.C.
The sequel to the first story was an hour-long special airing in November 2005. The operation was located in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and saw nineteen men arrive over three days. Among the men caught were a rabbi and a high school teacher, and one man who was interviewed by Hansen after showing up at the house naked, then encountered again the very next day at a local McDonald's.
Riverside, California
The third installment in the series was a two-hour-long special, which aired in February 2006. The operation was located in Riverside, California, and, at the request of Perverted Justice, was the first done in co-operation with local law enforcement officials. Fifty men were arrested in three days and charged with felonies -- so many that three arrived almost simultaneously, and law enforcement, at one point, ran out of personnel. (One other person arrested was charged with a misdemeanor.) The men arrested included a criminal investigator working for the Department of Homeland Security and, for the first time, two men who claimed to have seen previous Dateline investigations into online sex predators.
Greenville, Ohio
The fourth investigation aired in two one-hour-long parts during April and May 2006 as the first half of a month-long series of To Catch a Predator specials. The operation was based in Greenville, Ohio and resulted in the arrests of eighteen men in three days. The small-town location of the undercover house meant that potential predators from the larger surrounding cities of Indianapolis, Columbus, and Cincinnati had to drive upwards of an hour and a half to reach the operation. Among the men caught was one who had been slated to start a prison sentence for a different charge of solicitation in four days.
Under Ohio law, it is necessary for a police officer to be involved in the chat or phone conversation for prosecutors to file the most serious charges, so the Perverted Justice members who took part were made temporary deputies for the length of the operation.
Fort Myers, Florida
As with the Ohio investigation, the fifth investigation was aired in two one-hour-long parts in May 2006, forming the second half of the month-long series of To Catch a Predator specials. The operation was based in Fort Myers, Florida and saw twenty-four men arrested in three days. Among the more notable moments in the investigation was the arrest of a man who had brought along his own five-year-old son to the undercover house, and another man whose chatlog discussed using a tub of Cool Whip and a cat in sexual acts, who stripped in the house before encountering Hansen.
Harris County, Georgia
On 12 August 2006, Perverted Justice announced that the sheriff's department in Harris County, Georgia had arrested twenty men over two weekends in another sting operation. The investigation will be aired on Dateline NBC on September 13 and September 22.
Petaluma, California
From August 25–August 27, Perverted Justice and Dateline worked with law enforcement in Petaluma, California to arrest thirty men. That investigation is also set to air on Dateline NBC in the fall, on September 29 and October 6.
Long Beach, California
For three days in September, Perverted Justice and Dateline once again worked with law enforcement in California, this time in Long Beach to arrest thirty-nine men. That investigation is set to air on October 13 and October 20.
External links
- To Catch a Predator, official series website
- "Dangers children face online", the first story
- "Catching potential Internet sex predators", the sequel
- "To Catch a Predator III", the third installment
- "Potential predators in a small town", part one of the Ohio operation
- "Admitted child abuser caught in sting", part two of the Ohio operation
- "Meet the men featured in the Ohio investigation", a list of men arrested in the Ohio operation
- "A cyber twilight zone in Ft. Myers, Fla.", part one of the Florida operation
- "Caught on camera, but not surprised", part two of the Florida operation
- "Meet the men featured in the Ft. Myers, Fla. investigation", a list of men arrested in the Florida operation