To Catch A Predator

[jasonir]

Omg, watching this show is so painful. These guys are such idiots. Such fucking sickos. Seriously, who would go visit a 13 year old girl/boy online?

I mean, entrapment to the nines, but seriously these people must have such uncontrollable urges if they're actually going and doing this shit.

Good Job NBC

[DeanCapture]

yea - they caught like 30'something of them in just 3 days in Long Beach. Bunch of sick peoples that's for sure!

[KrisKross]

I love how each and every guy says "I wasn't going to have sex with her".

These are the scum of the earth.

[PHP-CODER-FOR-HIRE]

I'd like to blame all the hot chicks who turned these pitiful bastards down over and over, turning them into mental slush, and resulting to preying on 13 year old chicks, but it's ultimately their fault.

[PHP-CODER-FOR-HIRE]

Originally Posted by KrisKross

I love how each and every guy says "I wasn't going to have sex with her".

These are the scum of the earth.

Agreed. It's one thing to want to bang a chick you thought was 13. At least admit it once you're there, sissies.

[pornguy]

They just fucked thier lives beyond what they could ever imagine.

[illeana]

Disturbing shit, it makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about it.... There are a lot of sick people out there

[EBORG9]

What amazes me is most of the fuckers have seen previous shows, and know the reporter, the network, and the camera mans first name and still attempt it.

Besides being sick, they should get 20 years for being stupid.

The ones that send pics of themselves....what kind of idiot, no matter how sick, would take a chance like that. They are asking to get caught and then they get all surprised.
I think they actually got a guy that had really done some shit in the past, and is connected to some disappearances, I'll have to look it up and post the info.

[Nookster]

I'm glad with what they do. Some people will come through here and say how they do it just for the money and blah blah blah but i could care less. They get these sick fucks off the streets and that's all that matters.

[Jim_Gunn]

It's amazing how many otherwise normal family guys with wives and kids and regular jobs they catch. And some of these guys are showing up to more than one Dateline sting! It's endless. They could arrest 100 guts per night in every county in every state in the country every week and there would still be no end to it.

[jasonir]

Originally Posted by Nookster

I'm glad with what they do. Some people will come through here and say how they do it just for the money and blah blah blah but i could care less. They get these sick fucks off the streets and that's all that matters.

Exactly. I don't care what their interest is, not only are they getting these sickos off the street, they're probably preventing countless others from preying on children.

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

The show looks pretty fake to me...

The only time they had a towel ready was when a guy came in naked...

And look at the camera angles before the camera crew emerges...Sharp up-close pix of the host, etc.

Seriously, somebody would have kicked that self-righteous host idiot in the nuts by now if it was real. Instead everyone is all passive and remorseful.

It all looks staged to me.

It would be funny if another investigative journalist/show investigated this phony Dateline show, and proved that it was staged/contrived.

I mean seriously - it comes across as sensationalized lascvious crap. If Dateline really wanted to help parents protect their kids, they would give them concrete info how to do so in each episode instead of pandering to the public's voyeurism, and trying to make themselves look like crusaders.

Oh yeah, they say at the end, if you want more info how you can protect your kids, check out our website. But the show itself never gives much info about how to protect kids - just about how to be a vigilante and entrap others (not to mention that it might actually encourage predators in a twisted way, or make impressionable teens curious to check out chat rooms).

As I understand it, the Police can, and do, arrest people without setting up such elaborate and costly stings (both in terms of technology and manpower costs).

How many actual stories have you heard about online predators compared to how this show makes it sound are out there? I wouldn't let a kid near a computer the way Dateline presents the internet.

I'm sure internet predators exist, and they should be prosecuted, but setting up and entrapping people, if that is even really happening, and then making a maudlin spectacle of it is pretty depraved in itself.

What's next? Go after all internet porn because some kids chose to view it despite the warnings and filters that many of us put in place?

ADG Webmaster

[Jim_Gunn]

Originally Posted by AsianDivaGirlsWebDude

The show looks pretty fake to me...

ADG Webmaster

I'd ask you if you were joking but I see a lot of these kind of posts so I know you are real It always amazes me how many people see a fake or a conspiracy when all the evidence and verifiable facts points to otherwise.

[Gabriel]

"oops"

Classic.

[Jace]

Originally Posted by jasonir

entrapment to the nines

BRRRRRRRRRRRP! WRONG!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11131562/

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

If you ever wander into a stranger's house and see Chris Hansen lurking about, it's time to call a lawyer. The gotcha "journalist" behind "Dateline" NBC's "To Catch A Predator" series has created a huge buzz by exposing and shaming Internet predators to the delight of millions of Americans, parents' groups, and even a swooning Oprah Winfrey.

Nowadays, the "To Catch A Predator" website is, oddly enough, even hyping the fact that former Representative Mark Foley at one time praised the program--making the show seem like a twofer, I suppose: "To Catch A Hypocrite!"

The premise of the award-winning series is simple: Hansen, along with a group called Perverted Justice, lures would-be predators to hidden cameras by posing as 12- and 13-year-olds online. When the men (and they are always men) show up at the fake 13-year-old's house, an adorable "decoy" (a young-looking adult) greets them before Hansen pops out with a litany of questions like "Did you bring condoms?" and "Is that appropriate for a man your age to be asking those questions of a 13-year-old boy?"

Once Hansen is done probing the inner psyche of the predators (about two minutes), the men leave--often thinking the incident is over--just to be body-tackled by a waiting cadre of police officers who book them for various offenses against a minor, such as attempting to molest a child or sending a child pornography. (Of course, there never was a "child" to begin with, but never mind; a detail like that might prevent you from fully enjoying the capture of these sleaze balls.)

Hansen sets the show up as a supposed resource to inform parents of the dangers lurking on the Internet. But, after eight shoots and 15 hours of broadcast episodes of one predator after another--after another, after another--it's clear this is no longer informative; it's just lurid. Hansen is not the heroic investigative reporter he pretends to be; he's an entertainer, creating a black-and-white world of good and evil that allows the audience to cheer as bad guys are taken out, while simultaneously appealing to viewers' own twisted perversions.

Just take a look at Perveted Justice ("PeeJ"), the group behind the "Dateline" busts. At first blush, their efforts seem commendable. By collecting every online conversation with a would-be predator, verifying the predator's intent over the phone, and meticulously cataloguing every interaction, the edgy, mostly twentysomethings on the PeeJ team assemble "cases" that they then practically gift wrap and hand off to the police.

In fact, the PeeJs only ever do the in-person decoy routine when the press comes calling. As "Red Baroness," a PeeJ contributor, puts it in an interview on the Perverted Justice website, she and her colleagues see their work as a mission: "[T]he goal of this site has never wavered, and we continue to fight the good fight. We're glad to testify and make sure that these monsters are nowhere near the children of their communities."

But if enticing would-be predators to "Dateline"'s hungry cameras seems a little, well, predatory, it is. Meet Xavier Von Erck, PeeJ's founder. The 27-year-old Kevin Smith look-alike, a self-professed "Childless Atheist Libertarian," told Radar magazine that he dropped out of community college when a "'productive Internet addiction' ruined my studies, which I were [sic] not all that interested in anyways."

That "productive Internet addiction" is, of course, posing as young girls and boys on MySpace as a way of outing predators. Funny thing about that: "Age play" is it's own form of fetish. But, then, why shouldn't Von Erck enjoy himself while saving the world from predators?

And saving us is very gratifying indeed. According to "Beef the Troll"--"Red Baroness"'s husband and a three-year PeeJ employee who thinks that his background in "theatre" and "improv" combined with an "overdeveloped sense of justice" make him a good fit for the job of seducing pedophiles--there is nothing like sitting down to watch a "'Dateline' piece and enjoy the satisfying sight of seeing 50+ men who thought they were meeting a child for sex instead be confronted with TV cameras and hauled away in cuffs!" Viewers evidently agree. The show is a ratings bonanza for NBC.

It all seems perfectly noble--if a little odd--on the face of things. But the site quickly devolves into a tasteless blend of X-rated punishments and tacky consumerism. You, too, can join the fight against Internet predators by purchasing a sweatshirt or baseball cap. The site even sells camisoles, boxers, and thongs with nifty slogans like contents aged at least 18 years and at perverted-juctice.com THIS is what a 13-year-old girl looks like, and, my favorite, a baby-doll tee with this simple message splayed across the chest: perverted-justice.com, preying on the predators since 2001. The site encourages "ladies" to buy "this little number" because "We're trying to get the URL into areas of high visibility." Wink, wink.

Although the members of Perverted Justice deny that their work is vigilantism--they do not incite violence against the predators, they acknowledge that they are not above the law, and they work closely with law enforcement--they certainly do dispense justice via the court of public opinion. It takes a strong stomach to click on the Perverted Justice "Wankers" page.

It is just what it sounds like: a collection of masturbatory pornographic videos sent to the PeeJs when they were posing as kids. The site adds snarky titles to each video, like "How low can he go? Meet a limbo-master of nastiness"; "Mike is looking for love in all the wrong ages"; and "Richard loved exposing himself for me, so now it's time to expose Richard." Nice.

It's clear that "Dateline" loves convicting its prey by embarrassing them just as much as the PeeJs do. In one particularly nightmarish episode of "To Catch A Predator," a youth-center rabbi is confronted by Hansen. Believing that Hansen is a police officer, the rabbi solemnly admits he was up to nothing good and inquires as to what happens next. It is only when Hansen reveals that the man is being filmed for "Dateline" that the rabbi really loses it, lunging at Hansen and screaming "Oh, no!" The threat of the law is nothing compared with the threat of exposure.

Though Hansen and Perverted Justice maintain that they always leave punishment to the proper authorities, these strange bedfellows never reflect on the fact that exposure is punishment itself. Take Hansen's reaction to the harried pace of interrogating one predator after another as scheduled "dates" begin to pile up throughout the night: "It would be easy to start to feel sorry for some of these guys, but it's almost as if there's not enough time," He wrote on his behind-the-scenes blog. "There's always another guy on the way."

It is almost as if the folks at "Dateline" have been seduced themselves. Without even a whiff of self-awareness, "Dateline" recently aired an interview with Debra LaFave, the statuesque platinum blonde teacher who was convicted of having sex with her 14-year-old student. But, unlike the men on "To Catch A Predator" who are whisked off to law enforcement after being stunned by Hansen's sudden appearance and who barely have time to get their bearings, LaFave was presented as a complex woman.

Raped at 13 and later diagnosed with a bipolar disorder, she possessed myriad factors that led to her present circumstance, and "Dateline" took the time to address them. While the program never denied her responsibility--and LaFave herself admits to full culpability--it did present a more complete portrait than Hansen could ever hope to convey.

So "Dateline" is at least capable of looking more deeply at a story than the easy headline would suggest--or it is when an attractive blonde is at the center of the account. But, back in hidden-camera land with Chris Hansen, the middle-aged male predators that PeeJ ropes in for the program just aren't sexy enough to be treated fairly.

On "To Catch A Predator," the world is a stark place where evil men are brought to their knees for our enjoyment. By all means, get these guys away from our children, but serving it up as entertainment is gross--and it certainly isn't journalism.

*****

Sacha Zimmerman writes "Inner Tube" for TNR Online and is the author of For America: Simple Things Each of Us Can Do To Make The Country Better.

ADG Webmaster

[madawgz]

well its a good thing those guys are getting locked up

but they are pretty fucking dumb to meet someone from online like that lol

[BusterBunny]

<-----------

[Nookster]

Originally Posted by AsianDivaGirlsWebDude

If you ever wander into a stranger's house and see Chris Hansen lurking about, it's time to call a lawyer. The gotcha "journalist" behind "Dateline" NBC's "To Catch A Predator" series has created a huge buzz by exposing and shaming Internet predators to the delight of millions of Americans, parents' groups, and even a swooning Oprah Winfrey.

Nowadays, the "To Catch A Predator" website is, oddly enough, even hyping the fact that former Representative Mark Foley at one time praised the program--making the show seem like a twofer, I suppose: "To Catch A Hypocrite!"

The premise of the award-winning series is simple: Hansen, along with a group called Perverted Justice, lures would-be predators to hidden cameras by posing as 12- and 13-year-olds online. When the men (and they are always men) show up at the fake 13-year-old's house, an adorable "decoy" (a young-looking adult) greets them before Hansen pops out with a litany of questions like "Did you bring condoms?" and "Is that appropriate for a man your age to be asking those questions of a 13-year-old boy?"

Once Hansen is done probing the inner psyche of the predators (about two minutes), the men leave--often thinking the incident is over--just to be body-tackled by a waiting cadre of police officers who book them for various offenses against a minor, such as attempting to molest a child or sending a child pornography. (Of course, there never was a "child" to begin with, but never mind; a detail like that might prevent you from fully enjoying the capture of these sleaze balls.)

Hansen sets the show up as a supposed resource to inform parents of the dangers lurking on the Internet. But, after eight shoots and 15 hours of broadcast episodes of one predator after another--after another, after another--it's clear this is no longer informative; it's just lurid. Hansen is not the heroic investigative reporter he pretends to be; he's an entertainer, creating a black-and-white world of good and evil that allows the audience to cheer as bad guys are taken out, while simultaneously appealing to viewers' own twisted perversions.

Just take a look at Perveted Justice ("PeeJ"), the group behind the "Dateline" busts. At first blush, their efforts seem commendable. By collecting every online conversation with a would-be predator, verifying the predator's intent over the phone, and meticulously cataloguing every interaction, the edgy, mostly twentysomethings on the PeeJ team assemble "cases" that they then practically gift wrap and hand off to the police.

In fact, the PeeJs only ever do the in-person decoy routine when the press comes calling. As "Red Baroness," a PeeJ contributor, puts it in an interview on the Perverted Justice website, she and her colleagues see their work as a mission: "[T]he goal of this site has never wavered, and we continue to fight the good fight. We're glad to testify and make sure that these monsters are nowhere near the children of their communities."

But if enticing would-be predators to "Dateline"'s hungry cameras seems a little, well, predatory, it is. Meet Xavier Von Erck, PeeJ's founder. The 27-year-old Kevin Smith look-alike, a self-professed "Childless Atheist Libertarian," told Radar magazine that he dropped out of community college when a "'productive Internet addiction' ruined my studies, which I were [sic] not all that interested in anyways."

That "productive Internet addiction" is, of course, posing as young girls and boys on MySpace as a way of outing predators. Funny thing about that: "Age play" is it's own form of fetish. But, then, why shouldn't Von Erck enjoy himself while saving the world from predators?

And saving us is very gratifying indeed. According to "Beef the Troll"--"Red Baroness"'s husband and a three-year PeeJ employee who thinks that his background in "theatre" and "improv" combined with an "overdeveloped sense of justice" make him a good fit for the job of seducing pedophiles--there is nothing like sitting down to watch a "'Dateline' piece and enjoy the satisfying sight of seeing 50+ men who thought they were meeting a child for sex instead be confronted with TV cameras and hauled away in cuffs!" Viewers evidently agree. The show is a ratings bonanza for NBC.

It all seems perfectly noble--if a little odd--on the face of things. But the site quickly devolves into a tasteless blend of X-rated punishments and tacky consumerism. You, too, can join the fight against Internet predators by purchasing a sweatshirt or baseball cap. The site even sells camisoles, boxers, and thongs with nifty slogans like contents aged at least 18 years and at perverted-juctice.com THIS is what a 13-year-old girl looks like, and, my favorite, a baby-doll tee with this simple message splayed across the chest: perverted-justice.com, preying on the predators since 2001. The site encourages "ladies" to buy "this little number" because "We're trying to get the URL into areas of high visibility." Wink, wink.

Although the members of Perverted Justice deny that their work is vigilantism--they do not incite violence against the predators, they acknowledge that they are not above the law, and they work closely with law enforcement--they certainly do dispense justice via the court of public opinion. It takes a strong stomach to click on the Perverted Justice "Wankers" page.

It is just what it sounds like: a collection of masturbatory pornographic videos sent to the PeeJs when they were posing as kids. The site adds snarky titles to each video, like "How low can he go? Meet a limbo-master of nastiness"; "Mike is looking for love in all the wrong ages"; and "Richard loved exposing himself for me, so now it's time to expose Richard." Nice.

It's clear that "Dateline" loves convicting its prey by embarrassing them just as much as the PeeJs do. In one particularly nightmarish episode of "To Catch A Predator," a youth-center rabbi is confronted by Hansen. Believing that Hansen is a police officer, the rabbi solemnly admits he was up to nothing good and inquires as to what happens next. It is only when Hansen reveals that the man is being filmed for "Dateline" that the rabbi really loses it, lunging at Hansen and screaming "Oh, no!" The threat of the law is nothing compared with the threat of exposure.

Though Hansen and Perverted Justice maintain that they always leave punishment to the proper authorities, these strange bedfellows never reflect on the fact that exposure is punishment itself. Take Hansen's reaction to the harried pace of interrogating one predator after another as scheduled "dates" begin to pile up throughout the night: "It would be easy to start to feel sorry for some of these guys, but it's almost as if there's not enough time," He wrote on his behind-the-scenes blog. "There's always another guy on the way."

It is almost as if the folks at "Dateline" have been seduced themselves. Without even a whiff of self-awareness, "Dateline" recently aired an interview with Debra LaFave, the statuesque platinum blonde teacher who was convicted of having sex with her 14-year-old student. But, unlike the men on "To Catch A Predator" who are whisked off to law enforcement after being stunned by Hansen's sudden appearance and who barely have time to get their bearings, LaFave was presented as a complex woman.

Raped at 13 and later diagnosed with a bipolar disorder, she possessed myriad factors that led to her present circumstance, and "Dateline" took the time to address them. While the program never denied her responsibility--and LaFave herself admits to full culpability--it did present a more complete portrait than Hansen could ever hope to convey.

So "Dateline" is at least capable of looking more deeply at a story than the easy headline would suggest--or it is when an attractive blonde is at the center of the account. But, back in hidden-camera land with Chris Hansen, the middle-aged male predators that PeeJ ropes in for the program just aren't sexy enough to be treated fairly.

On "To Catch A Predator," the world is a stark place where evil men are brought to their knees for our enjoyment. By all means, get these guys away from our children, but serving it up as entertainment is gross--and it certainly isn't journalism.

*****

Sacha Zimmerman writes "Inner Tube" for TNR Online and is the author of For America: Simple Things Each of Us Can Do To Make The Country Better.

ADG Webmaster

That's called spin. Look into it.

[jasonir]

Originally Posted by Jace

BRRRRRRRRRRRP! WRONG!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11131562/

Not exactly an unbiased source, huh?

[EscortBiz]

was watching a show on cnn called how to rob a bank these kids convicted of phishing scams got 14 and 17 years in fed prison, I dont care how much damage these kids did to someones financial identity a fuckin pedo does mental damage and they do very little time and they are almost always repeats something very fucking wrong

[bdld]

it's not staged or made up, these are real guys doing jail time. they release their names so you could check their criminal records, they're not actors.

[jasonir]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Catc...ator#Criticism

Here's a more unbiased look on the entrapment issue.

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

So when is Dateline going to run recurring shows on the 4,000+ Catholic priests so far arrested in the U.S. alone for sexual abuse (that would be good for 300 or so Dateline shows) - or report on the five times greater incidence of sex abuse by public school teachers?

Anyone else notice how all the sensational stories lately are about female teachers (these threads always get lots of play on GFY).

I guess based upon this overwhelming evidence, kids should be banned from the internet, church and school.

I am certainly not condoning such behavior, but simply criticizing how some in the media are covering the news, and in some cases, making themselves a part of - or creating the news, which I believe compromises their journalistic integrity.

ADG Webmaster

[Jace]

Originally Posted by jasonir

Not exactly an unbiased source, huh?

source for what? the legal definition of entrapment? LOL....the law is there, I suggest more people read it and find out exactly what entrapment is

if I go to a coke dealer and ask for coke and he happens to be a cop and arrests me, that is not entrapment

if that coke dealer comes to my house and knows I am not an avid coke user and convinces me to use coke and later buy some from him, and then arrests me, than THAT is entrapment

those predators came to the decoys, the decoys didn't search them out

[Jace]

Originally Posted by AsianDivaGirlsWebDude

So when is Dateline going to run recurring shows on the 4,000+ Catholic priests so far arrested in the U.S. alone for sexual abuse (that would be good for 300 or so Dateline shows) - or report on the five times greater incidence of sex abuse by public school teachers?

Anyone else notice how all the sensational stories lately are about female teachers (these threads always get lots of play on GFY).

I guess based upon this overwhelming evidence, kids should be banned from the internet, church and school.

I am certainly not condoning such behavior, but simply criticizing how some in the media are covering the news, and in some cases, making themselves a part of - or creating the news, which I believe compromises their journalistic integrity.

ADG Webmaster

from me watching dateline I have seen one pastor and one preacher busted from what I remember...so yeah, they are going after them too

obviously you don't watch dateline on a regular basis, they (and 20/20) touch on some of the most sensitive subjects out there, you act as though they hold back or something, they never do

[Jace]

Originally Posted by jasonir

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Catc...ator#Criticism

Here's a more unbiased look on the entrapment issue.

yeah?

To date, however, the claim of entrapment has not been used successfully in a court of law to defend a To Catch a Predator suspect.

so, what are you saying?

[jasonir]

I'm saying getting all my information from them is probably a fucking stupid idea.

Obviously you like being spoon-fed your opinions... to each his own.

[Jace]

Originally Posted by jasonir

I'm saying getting all my information from them is probably a fucking stupid idea.

Obviously you like being spoon-fed your opinions... to each his own.

information from who? wikipedia? msn? cnn? abc? nbc? google news? bbc?

can you point me in the non-spoon fed news outlet please? LOL whatever that means

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

Originally Posted by Jace

from me watching dateline I have seen one pastor and one preacher busted from what I remember...so yeah, they are going after them too

obviously you don't watch dateline on a regular basis, they (and 20/20) touch on some of the most sensitive subjects out there, you act as though they hold back or something, they never do

I find your gullibility and naivete charming - from now on I will believe everything I hear and see on TV too, plus I'll buy all of the products advertised as well since they support such good causes, or vice versa.

How foolish of me to try and think independently.

ADG Webmaster

[SleazyDream]

i love it when they get the 30 year olds going after the 9 year olds. those bastards can burn in hell


sometimes they go too far and get 22 year olds going after 17 year olds. it's too grey an area to do - as it is legal in many areas. hell some 17 year olds goto college and date mid twenties guys - happens ALL the time.

soo easy to get the real skumbags - and much more interesting.

[madawgz]

http://eatmyshorts.net/show.php?id=1202

[jasonir]

Originally Posted by AsianDivaGirlsWebDude

How foolish of me to try and think independently.

Although I'm quite certain this show isn't staged, given the evidence to the contrary, this is my sentiment exactly.

Apparently Jace doesn't understand the concept of investigating both sides of an issue.

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

Originally Posted by jasonir

Although I'm quite certain this show isn't staged, given the evidence to the contrary, this is my sentiment exactly.

Apparently Jace doesn't understand the concept of investigating both sides of an issue.

I think Jace has the concept down pat...

Check out this scene from To Catch A Predator

And here is another - is nothing sacred?

Tis the season to catch a predator

ADG Webmaster

[notabook]

Originally Posted by AsianDivaGirlsWebDude

Tis the season to catch a predator

OMG... that's one of the funniest things I've ever seen... ever.

"Do I have to sit on your lap?"
"NO. That would be unnatural."

[RawAlex]

These guys need to show up with their own camera crew and start asking why anyone would allow their 13 year old online to solicit for sex.

That would be funny.