59 Comments Add your own

• 1. Gorman  |  June 28th, 2007 at 3:23 pm

  Answers: “God I hope so” and “yes.”

• 2. Todd  |  June 28th, 2007 at 4:56 pm

  Ditto what Gorman said…

• 3. jade  |  June 28th, 2007 at 5:51 pm

  This better stay on the air. Its the only show that makes a difference in society. And to those who want it off, …hopefully if won’t be your kids next in line to get some sicko after them.

• 4. Allen  |  June 28th, 2007 at 6:27 pm

  I don’t care if it’s on tv or not as long as they keep busting those pervs and put them away.

• 5. Anonymous  |  June 28th, 2007 at 7:04 pm

  Exactly, you don’t need to televise it. Ratings are not necessary to protect a community.

• 6. interesting fact  |  June 29th, 2007 at 4:59 am

  WFAA did a lot of leg work on this story…was a big sweeps piece for Byron Harris several months ago. Interesting it was ABC…not NBC

• 7. Hussman  |  June 29th, 2007 at 5:59 am

  It doesn’t matter to me either way, as I’ve never watched a full episode.

  @ jade - it won’t be my kids, at least online anyway. Our computer is in the living room, our kids do not hang out in chat rooms (no desire to), and the only time there was anything ever close to that (during a game of Runequest), I caught the guy and threatened to report the bastard. He apologized and took off.

• 8. Safran  |  June 29th, 2007 at 6:09 am

  As long as the show gets ratings, it will stay on.

• 9. jsmorley  |  June 29th, 2007 at 6:11 am

  I think it’s an awful show on several levels. First, it’s a hideously depressing show that goes for ratings (and thus money) by wallowing in the worst slime in our society. Second, it treads very close to the line of both entrapment and setting a precedent for removing both the privacy and presumption of innocence features of our democracy. Third, it allows complete amateurs to do what should be police work. There is a reason why vigilante behavior is discouraged in our society. It’s not that the police are always right or perfectly competent, but they are accountable to the public. The producers of this horrid show are only accountable to their CFO’s.

• 10. !  |  June 29th, 2007 at 6:21 am

  i’d say it is definitely biased.

  never watched much, but i never saw them nail some horny old broad in search of a young stud.

  they are out there.

• 11. El Guapo  |  June 29th, 2007 at 9:07 am

  It’s bad police work and even worse “journalism.” -Further proof of how the wheels have come off of NBC.

• 12. Alyssa  |  June 29th, 2007 at 10:04 am

  I admit to being fascinated with this show.

  Trainwreck TV that helps catch pervs who prey on kids. I feel that this might be a better use of my viewing time (vs. tranwreck TV where you win a date with a C list celeb).

  It’s not like it’s some dude making a citizen arrest while his friend captures it on tape. Actual law enforcement agencies are involved who have the ability to exercise a certain amount of control over the situation (i.e.- intercept the perv who brought his 5-yr-old kid with him, so as not to scare the child during the takedown that traditionally follows each encounter with Chris Hansen).

  The episode where they guy killed himself: Sad, no doubt about that. Did NBC have to air the footage of the raid on the guy’s house and the sound of the gunshot? No. But that doesn’t mean that the show is all bad.

• 13. Robert McNair  |  June 29th, 2007 at 11:27 am

  I’d be pretty upset to find that they’d chosen a house in my neighborhood to use as pervert central. “We’ve invited 20 pedophiles to park their cars in front of YOUR house!”

• 14. Lemorande  |  July 2nd, 2007 at 1:15 am

  How do you protect a community by bringing in perverts from OUTSIDE the community? What are you going to do when Chris Hansen sets up shop next to your house? This is a sick show on so many levels-yet I have watched it. Maybe I enjoy being appalled. This show should be canceled, but if it’s not, I’ll probably watch it again. I was always hoping one of these guys would turn around and slug the wuss Hansen. I mean, if you’re going to be humiliated on national tv, might as well get something out of it.

• 15. Anonymous  |  July 3rd, 2007 at 1:03 am

  The show is in itself a form of child exploitation, and should not be on the air. To those who claim it’s doing society some good….I don’t know to respond to such a vapid and illogical assertion. How’s that fear workin’ out for ya??

  One of the disturbing subtexts to TCAP is it’s not-so-subtle insinuation that the State cannot adequately “protect” people from the (appallingly rare) bogeyman of “strangers are coming in the night for your children!!!”, and thus, a privatized, vigilante organization is necessary to protect you. Yes, TCAP “works with” actual cops, but they’re neutered characters in the show’s overall script.

  The fact that an episode involved a suicide (someone commented about how they’re “fascinated” by this show) degrades us to the worst kind of voyeur - even though not explicit, it’s still a snuff film. I can only assume the producers catch someone being shot to death.

  Luring pervs with promises of underage sex? Bad.
  Bringing said pervs into unaware neighborhoods? Bad.
  Taping/broadcasting suicides? Bad.
  Stoking irrational fears in American populace? Bad.
  Insinuating the *real* police are incapable of doing this job in the first place? Bad.

  Kind of….all bad.

• 16. Bill  |  July 8th, 2007 at 9:59 am

  This is the ultimate case of vigilante witch-burning by picking on a hot knee-jerk topic, playing on public over-protectiveness and paranoia, and then acting high and mighty while entrapping lonely, unwary men so that the salivating self-righteous viewers who don’t want to watch their own kids.

  Most of these guys are just lonely outcasts who have been rejected by women all their lives, and obviously not too bright if they didn’t suspect something. This is a witch-hunt to burn scapegoats at the stake who didn’t do anything but talk about sex to a screen. For thousands of years societies have entrapped and scapegoated harmless half-wits to the delight of thousands so they could feel superior– this just takes it high-tech.
  Now they’ve been burned at the public stake and humiliated by an arrest without warrant– a bear-trap with some kiddy-porn as bait would be far kinder.

• 17. Bill  |  July 8th, 2007 at 10:06 am

  That’s also a good point– we have female SCHOOL TEACHERS who get away with a slap on the wrist for molesting young boys, but some guy in a chatroom is Satan incarnate when he shows up at a decoy’s house (proving he’s no brain-trust).
  It shows that TV is just a vagina with cable, and the outrage over little girls is hypocrisy.

• 18. Ray  |  July 18th, 2007 at 11:01 pm

  Anyone adult who would be turned on by a 13 or 14 year old, and then drive an hour or two to meet them is obviously sick, especially knowing the huge risk of being caught yet they do it anyway. One guy drove 6 hours! It’s the same as guys I know who will drive 50-60 miles or more for a gram of cocaine (not much).
  I know people are responsible for their own actions, but some of that $500 billion we’re spending in Iraq could maybe be used to study and treat this illness which is in many ways similar to drug or alcohol addiction.

• 19. Will  |  July 19th, 2007 at 9:06 am

  WTF are most of you talking about. I’m an LEO in WDC and our dept. does these stings on a regular basis. The public humility angle IS a deterrant for people; you don’t think that increases the stakes? This is not entrapment, learn the law or talk to someone NOT on the left about this issue and you’ll understand why it isn’t. The overt act is on the part of the suspect here. How come there isn’t an outrage about the COPS show-same premise -No?

  Bill- these arn’t just lonely guys, tehy are petophiles(sp?). Lonely, go get a prostiute in a legal Nevada brothel, not a 13 yr. old girl–and some of these guys are married. BTW, the crime is the overt act- ie: showing up at someones house with condoms. How far do you wan’t it to go, the actual sexual act?

  That prosecutor who committed suicide was chatting with what he believed to be a young boy-lonely ?

  my $ .02

• 20. Anonymous  |  July 19th, 2007 at 9:07 pm

  FIRST AND FOREMOST LET ME ERASE ANY QUESTIONS THAT I AM ON THE SIDE OF THESE SICK AND TWISTED INDIVIDUALS BY MAKING IT CLEAR THAT I BELIEVE THEY SHOULD ALL BE INSTITUTIONALIZED (I.E. JAIL, OR PSYCHIATRIC WARD) FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES. NOW CAN SOMEONE ANSWER THIS QUESTION:

  WHAT CRIME IS BEING BROKEN? I MEAN I UNDERSTAND THAT THE THESE MEN “FULLY INTEND” TO HAVE SEX WITH A MINOR….BUT THERE IS NOOOOOOO MINOR INVOLVED WITH THIS SHOW, SO THEY ARE IN FACT CONSIDERING SEX WITH AN 18 YR OLD ACTRESS! IN THEIR MINDS THIS GIRL IS UNDERAGE, BUT IN REALITY, THEY ARE HAVING CONVERSATIONS WITH THE SHOWS STAFF ON A COMPUTER AND THE 18 YR OLD ACTRESS IN PERSON.

  SO CAN YOU BE PROSECUTED FOR BREAKING A LAW IN YOUR HEAD WHEN IN REALITY NO LAW IS BEING BROKEN??

  PLEASE MAKE THIS MORE CLEAR TO ME, BECAUSE GOD KNOWS THESE MEN SHOULD BE OFF THE STREETS, BUT NOT AT THE EXPENSE OF THE JUSTICE SYSTEM…IF THATS THE CASE, WHERE WOULD THE LINE BE DRAWN IN NOT FOLLOWING THE LAWS GUIDELINES..
  ALSO, HOW IS THIS NOT ENTRAPMENT?

  IF IT WASN’T FOR THE “STAFF MEMBERS” SUBTLE COERCISION, THE MEN WOULD NEVER SHOW UP AT THE HOMES?
  SOMEONE PLEASE RESPOND..AND NOT WITH A WHOLE LOTTA ATTITUDE EITHER BECAUSE THESE ARE JUST QUESTIONS PEOPLE!

• 21. Darkgarden  |  July 21st, 2007 at 7:53 pm

  I’ll let this letter I wrote to NBC speak for itself… already in progress…

  …individuals on your show. However, as a high ranking police investigator myself, I think I should point out that your boss is sensationalizing a pretty touchy subject line. I realize the whole “give them what they want” mentality, but your company is messing with peoples lives in a matter that I don’t think should be breached, especially by the likes of high profile journalists.

  The predators need some help. No argument. However, some of them, are probing an innate behavior in a modern day with no intention whatsoever of committing physical/mental injury. The preventative measures you supply, as basic as they are, are necessary and appropriate. Again, I have no argument with that.

  My alternate view on this, however, brings up the concept of human development in general. You are luring/trapping men with border line legal aged females, promoting the increased poor behavior on the part of the male (by the misleading electronic dialog), and then humiliating them by putting their dirty laundry before a mass audience that, frankly, in the majoriey, does not have the capacity of dealing with such issues. (Aside of lighting torches and storming the evil laboratory.) I’ll also apologize right now for the intelligent people that do know better. My point is based on human anatomy and the sexual development of the human species. This is where black and white written law can be taken advantage of.

  Chris. Wow. What can I say here without getting misunderstood? My thoughts are of a weak journalist that hides behind power trying to look like a savior. Careful Chris! Someone may open one of your closets some day! I could go on, but there is no need.

  Let the real, trained law enforcement deal with the real predators the way they should. Save the SWAT tactics for heavily armed and dangerous situations. Grandiose Nazi sensationalism on mass media is not the way. You’re doing nothing more than pushing the truly dangerous predators farther underground, and making yourself look silly to the truly educated and open-minded populace.

• 22. Macabre  |  July 21st, 2007 at 9:10 pm

  WoW. I mean just wow. I am overwhelmed with disappointment with some of the people in this thread. Infact, I think I actually lost IQ points reading it.

  This show should be waking you all up and realize what is going on in this world instead of being so naive. These people are coming to see a 13 year old girl to have sex with her. I read where a couple of you say they aren’t really 13 years old so no crime has been committed. Whether it is or not is irrelevant. Police set up prostitution stings and drug stings daily. The fact is these sick people are grown adults driving hours and locally to have sex with a 13 year old and I want them humiliated on TV and behind bars. If you are not one of these people then you have nothing to worry about.

  To the person asking would I want Chris doing this next door to me and my family? Yes. I would shake his hand, by him a beer, or whatever he wanted and say thank you for helping to protect our society. This is NOT trapping anyone, it is showing who these molesters are in our society. Only ones who should EVER be worried about being so called “Trapped” are the ones who have the potential to molest our children so these people will get no sympathy for me.

  So to the “anonymous” person above me saying this is subtle coercion you have either never watched the show because they say absolutely horrible things and some even send pictures of their private areas to who THEY believe is a 13 year old girl or you are just clueless as to how dangerous these people are.

  @JSmorley To me this is an AWESOME show on every level. Anything to help better protect our children from these sick and twisted people is great to me. Saying this is just for ratings is an uneducated comment. If you know anything about Chris Hansen he has covered several stories involving exploiting of children. Oh and all TV channels do things for ratings and to me the more people watch the more people will be more educated as to what is going on and maybe it might make some of these sick people think twice before soliciting sex to a 13 year old over the internet and if that happens and it saves a 13 year old girl even if it is just one then to me the show has done justice and should be saluted. I can go on and on but I think most of you get my view.

  My two cents

• 23. davdi  |  July 21st, 2007 at 9:50 pm

  YES, it definitly should be the end of this show. It does do good in a way. I mostly believe though that it does harm by promoting hate towards these ‘predators’ and also by humiliating them on national television.

• 24. brooks  |  July 21st, 2007 at 10:54 pm

  this is a very difficult decision I really don’t think these men should be let off the hook but i don’t like the fact that the government can get there filthy hands in just about anyway they want by setting people up. When the show first started they would just broadcast these men on national television i think that might be plenty enough humiliation to make people think twice about doing these acts. I still like the show.

• 25. brooks  |  July 22nd, 2007 at 10:28 am

  i change my mind reading all these comments made me think and i agree with mr. darkgarden, watching some reruns of the show i could see the savior like attitude in Chris Hanson, in making a mockery of these mens mistakes.

• 26. Macabre  |  July 22nd, 2007 at 11:12 am

  @ Brooks

  A Mockery of these mens mistakes? Speeding is making a mistake. Sending pictures of your genitals and soliciting sex to what you believe is a 13 year old girl is absolutely sick and these men need to be made a mockery of. Sorry but I have no compassion for any pedophile.

  Macabre

• 27. shaffer  |  July 22nd, 2007 at 1:53 pm

  Macabre,

  I couldn’t have said it any better myself. To be honest after reading some of these posts makes me wonder if they are part of the people he is going after and thats why they are protecting these molesters Sad world we live in when people are trying to protect child molesters.

• 28. brooks  |  July 22nd, 2007 at 9:01 pm

  let me stir this up a little then i think it is probably in older mens nature to go for women this age, i think it has probably been like this since the beginning of time till what maybe 100 years ago so can’t blame them for something that is embeded in their brains.

• 29. shaffer  |  July 23rd, 2007 at 12:24 pm

  It’s embedded in dogs brains to hump your leg Brooks but I would like to think we are more intelligent then they are. Oh and if you are someone who believes a 13 year old girl is a “Woman” then you need serious help.

• 30. Tiffany  |  July 24th, 2007 at 12:32 pm

  I am amazed at how people could speak of presumed innocence when the people they are “trapping” are clearly guilty! Check your conscience or your perverted desires. This is an excellent show! The fact that it airs and these men still prey on children show just how disgusting these perverts are. I say keep the show on….if it only prevents a thousand perverts from trying their luck than great! Good job NBC!!!
  I guess it takes a parent to appreciate decency!

• 31. Jeff  |  July 26th, 2007 at 7:49 pm

  I think the show does a great job at what it does. I would hate to see it go off the air.

  Jeff

• 32. james  |  July 26th, 2007 at 11:28 pm

  Hmm. Sounds like the true issue among everyone is not whether someone is defending a pervert, but , rather, should a police sting operation be tampered with and broadcast on television. We all agree that those women and men (I wonder why no one talks about women in these conversations?) that solicit minors for sexual gratification should be punished. I have to add, as my own two cents, that connecting someone who doesn’t agree with your own ideas a possible pervert is closed minded and egotistical.

  I think that police sting operations serve our communities for the greater good; to make a statement, in a community, that could prevent unwanted behavior is a great idea. My problem with the show is not its content or intent, but the fact that it has become a form of entertainment. Its interesting to think that reality television has gone this far, and where it may go in the future. Before anyone comments about this statement, think about how we label this broadcast; Its an excellent show!

  When i first seen the broadcast I was surprised, as everyone ells probably was, to see the broad class of these offenders; it was a great eye opener for the public, but should it be glorified to the point of becoming entertainment? Although i am in favor of the proposed meaning and shocking eye opener of the first broadcast, I in no way want to see sex offenders on television ,as a reality show, getting interviewed and then arrested on evening television. Am I in favor of sex offenders getting arrested ? YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also, I have a problem with people being happy that this show could take place right next door. It seems that we are associating this show with some type of life saving drama. Is there some real person being saved in this show from a hungry beast ready to devour its prey? Is a show worth bring possible sex offenders in close proximity to children that would never have contact with this type of person otherwise? Yes, it is possible that your children can come in contact with these types of people, but how do you feel about the fact that predators are coming to your neighborhood to come in contact with minors (or at least the idea of).

  This show also undermines the police that serve the people. In the show we have the hero, Chris Hanson, who sets up this plot to capture the predators; the cops come in last to apprehend these people after Hanson does his thing. Seems like it should be the other way around. Moreover, This show doesn’t even come close to putting a dent in the predator population; it may also serve as a harm to legit police sting operations that use the internet as their medium. We may lower the numbers of these predators on line, but that doesn’t mean the threat is gone; they’ll just look somewhere ells. Good job NBC!!!! for bringing the issue to our attention; Leave the police work to the police.

• 33. Rich Q  |  July 29th, 2007 at 3:22 pm

  This is a truely sick show, making entertainment out of such a serious issue. Its discusts and saddens me to see how low television has sunk.

• 34. Big Momma  |  July 29th, 2007 at 4:31 pm

  Chris Hanson/Dateline does their job. It is unfortunate that the sister of the D.A that committed suicide refuses to acknowledge that her sibling was a predator and probably for a while. People don’t acquire a sexual desire for kids overnight, male or female. Just like any other person who commits a crime there is always collateral damage…family, friends that will be affected. A drunk driver that decides to drink then drive and kill a pedestrian will hurt their family. However, the driver has made a choice. Instead of choosing the right thing, the person chooses wrong. The person who decides to kill does just that as well as a rapist and so on.

  Let’s take this into perspective, if a man decides to have an affair and the girlfriend /wife catches him in the act, does not say to the man “Well, I know that you wouldn’t have done that under normal circumstances or if you weren’t solicited.” The man obviously is aware of his actions. A lot of deception is going on to set up rendezvous, buy gifts, pretend he doesn’t know who keeps calling and so on. Neither are they sympathetic if the man says I did it because of problems at home, or I was lonely, needed physical contact etc. Most times the affair goes undetected. In any event, people get hurt, are embarrassed and feel betrayed, sometimes feel as though it is their fault. That somehow they should have known or recognized the signs. Children that get molested/raped often feel it is their fault and very seldom tell adults because of the guilt, ridicule or chastisement they might receive by adults. Woman are often subjected to this as well.

  What about the victims? How can you give back innocence or a life? What about the victims family? These pedophiles, some of them with children the same age, have these sexual tendencies already and are fully aware of them and have chosen to communicate, respond, and often go to meet these children. The D.A who was caught was not only soliciting a child, which by the way was a boy but he fully knew the law and probably prosecuted a few pedophiles during his career. If he was not interested in children then he would be in chat rooms where adults are and if IM’d by someone underage, the person would immediately say “you’re too young” report it, chastise, etc and move on. Dateline, as well as law enforcement in general do stings for every other crime (drugs, bail jumpers, warrants, prostitution), why not child predators? Some people are upset because of the types of individuals that are being apprehended. Many viewers are probably expecting sleazy, dirty, unemployed men but instead are finding that some have prominent positions in society. If these individuals were the less desirable people in society, there would be no complaints. The people who are complaining should not be hypocrites and realize that the laws are there for the rich, poor, famous, obscure, male, and female. No one should be above the law. If someone tried to hurt a child of mine or of someone I knew, it does not matter what lifestyle the person was from. The predator still must be punished. The D.A killed himself because he got caught, could not weasel out of it, and basically knew his career and credibility was over/damaged.

  Furthermore, if for example I don’t like tomatoes, no amount of coaxing will make me eat it. However, if I have a predisposition for it, then I might be tempted to break my decision and eat some tomatoes. Those who are reading this just think about it, if a child tried to solicit you, would you do it out of weakness or because it is something you desire to do? You don’t just wake up one day and decide to do that. And you don’t “slip” into it either. If a man meets what he believes to be a woman and then finds out is actually a transvestite, he does not continue to talk, meet or sleep with the transvestite unless that is his desire/intention to do so.

  The other thing citizens should also think about is the possibility that these pedophiles might elevate to abducting children, molesting, raping and killing children. Before Dateline came along, many kids were being raped and killed by people they met on the Internet. The same reason we have sexual offenders register so that communities can identify predators in their neighborhood, the same way Chris Hanson, and Perverted Justice are revealing the predators that are hiding under the cloak of prominence and status in their communities. Seemingly law-abiding fathers, husbands, boyfriends, doctors, lawyers, clergy, pillars of the community, while all the time underneath, they are nothing more than wolves in sheep clothing.

  Kids who use explicit language have many ways to learn it- television shows, music videos, models, movie stars, books, magazines etc. that portray woman in general as sex objects and that use their sexuality to attract love & attention. A child that has a need for attention might be easy bait. Some girls may even believe it is expected of them to act that way. Most can imitate the language but rarely have the maturity to understand the repercussions. Many girls look older than they are but that is not what child predators look for, especially the kind that asks their bra size. Those predators prefer prepubescent girls. Adults should seek other Adults and not children regardless if they are propositioned. Please viewers do your research. And remember it happens to boys too.

  Entrapment is defined as the police inducing an otherwise unwilling person to commit a crime. However, the predator contacts a person online (whether solicited or not), discovers that the person is under the legal age but continues to talk because that is the intention of the predator. To top it off many predators send explicit photos and travel many hours to meet with the child, often bringing gifts and other illegal things. Looks have nothing to do with it. There is someone for everyone. There are plenty of overweight, unattractive men and women that are not pedophiles. The individuals that exhibited limited mental capacities may need help but many knew that it was wrong.

  Some people think that the DA did not do anything wrong and that perhaps NBC was judge, jury & executioner. However, the moment he started talking to an underage person in a sexual manner, he committed a crime. If I go online and solicit someone to kill my husband, I have committed a crime even if I don’t follow through and meet the gun for hire. It is called a conspiracy to commit an unlawful act. Dateline did not create the situation, it was already there. They just exposed it and made viewers that were oblivious to it, snap out of it and become aware (whether they want to or not). There are predators everywhere and some slip under the radar, just like D.A. Conradt. There are predators that actively travel to other countries (Thailand, it came on TV) to legally engage in sex or sexual acts with children (some 5 years old) because they know it is illegal here.

  I think that Dateline are fully aware of the risks involved and I am sure they have a contingency plan in place but I often wonder how many of these predators that were caught are not actually serial killers etc? I think of how many serial killers were caught by simple things like parking tickets, traffic violations and I can only wonder.

• 35. james  |  July 29th, 2007 at 6:18 pm

  @Big Momma

  I agree with you, but when should a news station become the police? Police perform these kinds of stings all the time, why should Date line keep showing them on television? Don’t get me wrong, I think that its great that this has come to our attention, and i am glad that Date line had brought it to our attention in the first place. My problem is that it has step out of the realm of information television and into entertainment. Is that a healthy societal change?

  @Rich
  I agree 100%

• 36. Macabre  |  July 30th, 2007 at 6:10 pm

  @ Rich

  What is sick are the perverts going after a 13 year old girl. Try thinking about them. To me I love the fact this show humiliates these people. I think all child molesters should be humiliated. Don’t want to take a chance on being on Dateline? Then don’t solicit your genitals and sex to what you believe is a 13 year old girl.

• 37. Misha  |  August 1st, 2007 at 11:55 pm

  Look, somebody has to do it. The police are overloaded. Thank G-d some citizens took it upon themselves and make some men think twice. That guy shot himself because he knew he was guilty and what shame was facing him if he didn’t.

  Love it! Keep it up dateline!

• 38. Brad  |  August 2nd, 2007 at 10:29 am

  I couldn’t have said it any better Misha.

• 39. Lisa  |  August 2nd, 2007 at 1:04 pm

  ..looks like the objectors to the program are men. This show is bringing awareness of what is out there on the internet and in our communities on all social levels.

  The show should continues until there are no more predators to film.

  It’s easier to just find an adult!

• 40. jim  |  August 12th, 2007 at 6:46 am

  This is entrapment. It is Television. Do you think the producers actually let you see the entire conversations that they have with these men. Of course NOT!!! If they did it would be easy to see how many of these men are skeptical and attempt to say NO I DONT WANT TO DO THIS, only to be assured, prodded and baited by the decoy into believing it will be just fine. Chris Hansen is a coward, he simply hides behind the camera lures men, who for the most part have no intention of committing these acts, and then laughs in their faces. It is ridiculous that this is not only allowed in our society but applauded. How sad sad we are to let cowards like hansen operate.

• 41. Brian  |  August 18th, 2007 at 11:18 am

  Jim, I take it you were one of those sick perverts that got caught yes? I mean who in the world would take up for child molesters? I will say that I have no fear of ever being on that show since no matter what I would not go after 13 year old girl regardless of what she looks like or saying. I want a WOMAN not a girl barely in puberty.

• 42. Don  |  August 26th, 2007 at 11:56 pm

  I have no sympathy for a child molester and IMO they are without a doubt the lowest form of life we have on this planet. That being said, This show is nothing more than entrapment. As described by several former employees of Dateline, in most of these cases, the decoy is the first to bring up sex. In some of these cases the guys have terminated conversations, only to be pursued by the decoy over a period of weeks. That my friends is entrapment and that is against the law. So the real question is, do two wrongs make a right? It is easy to say yes because we are talking about child molesters who really do not deserve to have any rights, but in truth the real answer is no. The second issue to bring up here is that in society you do have girls who are 13,14,15 who do pursue older men. Let’s face it, kids today are far more sexually advanced than I was at that same age. I can look outside any day of the week and see these same “children” who are dressed more like your standard hooker on any movie made in Hollywood. I have went to the Mall and seen 13,14,15 year old girls “poppin” their a$$ in a pair of booty shorts like I would see from any stripper at a Gentleman’s Club. You can’t have it both ways this world. You can not allow your kids to objectify themselves then complain if they are being treated as objects. You can not allow these kids to dress suggestively and “express their sexuality” then complain when someone views them as a sex object.

• 43. Anonymous  |  August 28th, 2007 at 1:20 pm

  How can anyone criticize this show? It’s doing exactly what is needed to bring attention to the perverts who live among us who act normally most of the time but are actually these monsters. The more attention they get the harder it is for them to harm a child. Just wish we could find out how much time each one of these worms winds up serving in jail. Like the guy who walks in naked… I want to see him do ten years, minimum. If it were up to me he could do that ten year sentence in the nude too. Guarantee that when he gets out he’ll never go nude again.

• 44. Anonymous  |  August 28th, 2007 at 1:33 pm

  The main complaint for the show seems to be “it’s entrapment” My response? Even if it were so what? That’s what you do to animals, you trap them. Hey come on, you can’t “entrap” someone into getting into their car, stopping by a store to buy some juicy-juice and condoms, and then driving to a stranger’s house to “chat” with an underage person. These bastards are totally into the whole fantasy right up until Chris walks out from the other room. Then they are all sorry, responsible, troubled brothers, fathers, husbands, etc. Bullshit. Just sorry they were caught and scared that ther addiction has finally caught up with them, because eventually it always does.

  But then the other thing I hear people say about this show is that’s dumbing down America. Oh yeah, what we need is less shows educating us about something, about anything… and more shows that simply entertain the masses with ridiculous characters and a laugh track.

  Les Discovery and more SpongeBob right? I mean, WTF? TV is this incredible tool which if used properly would take us to a whole new level of information sharing and interconnectedness. If one of the ways we can use this mass information trading tool is by profiling potential threats to the children of the world, then godammn so freaking be it!! I’d gladly trade ten Law and Order SVU-Miami shows for just one show that raises actual, helpful awareness.

  But if you’d rather wallow in the depths of vegetative, passive forms of entertainment created solely to occupy simple minds then I guess nobody can stop you.

• 45. Brian  |  August 30th, 2007 at 5:57 am

  I would agree with the whole “Entrapment” argument if it just stayed online only, however, when they actually show up with alcohol and condoms at what they believe is a 13 year old girl then they take it a lot further.

  I have no sympathy for child molesters at all and believe they need to be exposed and humiliated. If all they did was keep it online that’s one thing but showing to a 13 year old girls house in the nude and with drugs and alcohol and condoms, then that takes on a whole new meaning.

• 46. Mixed Feelings  |  August 31st, 2007 at 2:26 pm

  My feelings on this issue could not be more mixed, a very rare phenomenon in me.

  I have a young daughter, and I shudder to think of any man touching her beneath some disciplined prince of times past, when honor mattered to men of the west. I look at many of these guys and my soul wells with contempt and disgust. They’re gross, and they intend to take advantage of the naiveté of a child. Pretty simple.

  Or not. Some ‘counter thoughts’ present themselves to me.

  (1) teenage girls can be exceptionally beautiful and sexy. only a liar will deny this. many playboy models are 18 and 19 years old. Are only “perverts” turned on by 19yo TEENAGE girls? Continuing from this is the truth that some 14yo girls LOOK like they’re 19yo girls. For some reason, girls are physically maturing at earlier and earlier ages. The actress in this show IS NINETEEN!! And she is beautiful. Those guys don’t look so disappointed to see her in place of some pre-teen. Are they “perverts” to be attracted to her? Gimme a break! That self-righteous Hansen probably fantasizes about dating her in the unlikely event that he isn’t gay (which in our surreal age is somehow no longer “perverse” while, conversely, thinking 19yo girls are hot is).

  Who is the “pervert”- the guy turned on by a 14yo girl with large breasts, a large rump and a curvy figure who LOOKS 22, or a guy turned on by a 22yo woman who LOOKS like she’s 14?!

  In reality, we all have complex sexual desires and fantasies. Statistically, most men seek intellect in their mates, but occasionally daydream about flings with bubbly, care-free, barbie-lookalike airheads. In other words, many normal humans occasionally desire stress & hassle-free SEX. Take a look in the mirror and get over it!

  (2) OF COURSE IT’S ENTRAPMENT. the last installment of this show to air showed the dialog with a guy who explicitly stated that the girl was TOO YOUNG to be “in there” (an ADULT chat room). After they tried to bait him, he stated outright “maybe if you were 18.” But they didn’t let up, and convinced him to meet their NINETEEN year old actress on a beach before tackling the construction-working father with a pregnant wife at home and charging him with preying on a non-existent “child.”

  This guy clearly navigated his computer to a LEGAL, ADULT chat room to interact with adults. Who knows what his home life is like? For the time being, it’s still legal to talk to other adults. For all we know, the fat, sexually frustrated actress at the other end was the first person to take any interest in him. They guy is no predator. They CREATED a “predator” out of law-abiding man, and ruined his life in the process. It’s nauseating.

  (3) WE ALL KNOW that age restrictions have a lot to do with our sense of justice over attractiveness level. As Chris Rock observed, Clarence Thomas would’ve never taken heat if he looked like Denzel. I’m 30, and women try to pair me up with their underage daughters SIMPLY because I’m clean, thin, and handsome. If I were 25, fat and ugly, they’d think I was a “pervert” to have any admiration for the beauty of a 16yo girl. (My GF is OLDER than I am, thank you)

  But, as I said, I do have mixed feelings. I do think that this show will make a lot of dangerous men think twice about involving themselves with young, impressionable girls. I just find the attitude surrounding this whole endeavor to be pretentious (every one of those pathetic SWAT thugs would LOVE to get in the sack with that 19yo actress, too), and self-righteous (some of these guys arte hardly “predators”).

• 47. Mixed Feelings  |  August 31st, 2007 at 2:43 pm

  “lisa” wrote: “looks like the objectors to the program are men. This show is bringing awareness of what is out there on the internet and in our communities on all social levels.”

  Yeah, because they exclusively target MEN. I don’t see any dykes getting pinched for “preying” on young girls (not enough room in the cop cars?) or older ‘cougars’ being needlessly tackled by 10 SWAT thugs for attempting to relive thier wasted salad days with a boytoy-tryst. It doesn’t happen? It’s been exposed a few times at GRADE SCHOOLS here in Seattle…

  I agree the vast majority of these clowns should be flushed out of civilization anyway, but so should the DATELINE staff.

  Oh yeah: The RABBI was a particularly memorable pinchee, I’m still shocked that made it on the air…

• 48. Brian  |  September 3rd, 2007 at 9:33 pm

  To number 46 “Mixed feelings”. Sorry but I disagree with the entrapment argument here. Would it not be safe to say he should have never showed up to the house to begin with? I can personally say they would never get me on there since I would not go to a 13 year old’s house no MATTER what they looked like. Use some sense people.

• 49. bill  |  September 5th, 2007 at 10:13 pm

  This show needs to go. It does nothing to help society. America is plagued by sexual repression and dichotomized relationships between the sexes. This show does nothing but to further those problems. When American society begins to promote healthy attitudes towards sex the problems exemplified by this show will decrease or end. But this show is a perverted way of trying to stop a problem. If anything it increases the problem. It also NEVER focuses on female sexual predators, and if you’ve been paying attention to the news you would know there have been quite a few female school teachers who have raped male students. It’s probably been going on forever but it’s only just getting attention. It’s funny how those women are vilified and publicly humiliated. Most of the time they’re barely even prosecuted, they’re given probation or house arrest when a man would be sent to prison to get raped.

• 50. Unison  |  September 28th, 2007 at 5:59 pm

  myfreepaysite porn

• 51. Ryan  |  October 5th, 2007 at 12:44 am

  This is a great show. If you don’t like it then whatever I could care less. Call it what you want but this sends out a message to predators and it also makes me laugh

• 52. Dave  |  November 6th, 2007 at 10:07 am

  I think this show should deffently continue because IT IS KEEPING SICKOS OFF THE STREET and I want to address the people who started this blog who ignorantly beleive that their children do not “desire” to go to chat room and that they “are watched”.Lets be serious, my x-girl friend’s sister was in the same situation(so we thought) but we found out that she was chatting with 40 year old AT THE LIBRARY COMPUTER ROOM!!!! there are privacy laws that prevent the library to monitor these kids!!! This show might be all about rating but so what! it may help sickos from actually visiting these innocient children. None of your kids are safe online no matter what you do…and the judicial system doesnt give a shit b.c theres more paper to be written if a sex predator is caught. PLEASE ABSORB THIS INFORMATION!!!

• 53. Emilio  |  November 7th, 2007 at 2:09 pm

  The fact that everyone seems to know about the Show keeps predators on their toes. I think the show is great. Humiliate them, crush there hopes, dreams, and enitre universe right infront of the world. Put them on t.v so the world can see predators who are teachers, and Doctors who have kids them selves and still try to have sex with 13 yr old girls. We talk about ratings, but the show gets ratings because society is in ‘aw’ every episode when they see how many predators come every day. Its aired because these men can be your next door neighbor and you would never know till they appeared on this show. It is a wonderful show which gets great ratings from fans as well as predators who will think it twice hopefully. Thank you NBC!

• 54. Emilio  |  November 7th, 2007 at 2:26 pm

  Number 46.. the mentality of a 13 yr old isnt of a 35 old man. they want these guys because there young and immature. why didnt these same guys look for a 19 or 20 yr old. its becaue its easier to manipulate a younger girl of course. Maybe when your daughter is 13 she can have a boy friend who is also 13 and they can be a cute couple.. actually, if its all the same, why dont we let her be with her 40 yr old math teacher since like you said, she could have the body of a 20 yr old so it would be ok?? your nuts! People on here have really surprised me.. I thought we would all be for getting these guys who areant just looking to get laid cause if they were they can get a hooker or a chat room of there own age. They want to be inside of a 13 yr old!! isnt anyone listening to this.. do you not understand… they want to have sex with a 13 yr old girl!! If they know in there hearts its wrong, then why go… I hate hearing the whole “i have a problem” bull $*%t. I dont buy it.. There only problem is they are lusting, and can only get it from the weak and innocent. If there was a 13 yr old there, the sex would really happen.. do you all want it to go that far to make the arrest??? I am convinced that some of you are insane! To be honest, to me I can careless about prostitution. if a woman wants to degrade her self by selling her body shes an adult she can do wahtever she wants. if a man wants to buy it, go right ahead. But this, no way!

• 55. Aaron Berger  |  January 4th, 2008 at 5:54 am

  You people are all retard, God **** it! IT IS LEGAL IN THE COUNTRY OF MEXICO TO HAVE SEX WITH A 12 YEAR OLD GIRL, YOU ****** DUMM**** WILL (LISTED A COMMENT ABOVE)!! DO YOU NOT FREAKING KNOW THAT IN SOME FREAKING STATES IN THE U.S. THE AGE OF CONSENT IS AS LOW AS 13 YEARS OLD?? WTF IS SO SICK ABOUT THAT, FREAKING DUMM*** WILL??? YOU WANT TO VILGILLANTE SOMEONE???? HOW ABOUT THAT STINKING PIG COMMANDER DOYLE, EX-POLICE CHIEF OF THE CHICAGO METROPOLITAN POLICE, WHO JUST GOT CONVICTED OF RACKETEERING AND EXTORTION AND FOR BEING A MEMBER OF THE SICILIAN BASED MAFIA???? PERVERTED JUSTICE FOR HIM???? LYNCH HIM???? FOR ALL THE PEOPLE HE MURDERED DURING HIS CAREER, CROOKED COP??? WHY DON’T YOU CHECK THE AGE OF CONSENT LAWS AROUND THE WORLD AND TELL ME WHAT DO YOU SEE, YOUR ALL LIVE IN A FREAKING “GLASS HOUSE”, GOD DAMM***!!!! YOU THINK, “BECAUSE THE STATE OR COUNTY I LIVE IN, THE LAW SAYS HAVING SEX WITH A 13 YEAR GIRL AINT LEGAL, THEREFORE ITS SICK AND WE SHOULD VIGILLANTE ALL PEOPLE WHO DO”, AND GUESS WHAT???? THOSE WHO BANG 12 YEAR OLD GIRLS ARE JUMPING THE BORDER INTO MEXICO AND DOING IT, DUMM***!!!!!!!!! YOU KNOW WHAT I AM SAYING, FREAKING ULTRA-CONSERVATIVE FU–HEADS??? ANY QUESTIONS???

• 56. David  |  February 3rd, 2008 at 4:40 pm

  Interesting comments based mainly upon emotional outrage rather than logical thought.

  Would half of these people be considered pedophiles if there were no internet and all life as otherwise went on as normal?

  Isnt this more akin to ocean fishing with a large net sure you may catch a lot of tuna but what about other marine life that gets caught in the nets?

  Are the agendas of some of the people for personal gain, revenge, or some sort of twisted pleasure they themselves get?

  Sorry I see no logical reason to put either the victems or the accused in charge of the justice system. This system should be enforced by those with no personal stake in its administration either for profit or other reasons.

• 57. Bob  |  March 3rd, 2008 at 6:54 pm

  There should be 20 “Predator” shows on TV catching these slime balls. I hope every single one of them blows their head off, it’ll save on prosecuting them and housing their ass in jail.

  I have to wonder if all anti-predator people are members of NAMBLA, because I haven’t heard or read one coherent argument against this. Who the hell cares if NBC makes money off of it? About time the criminals get exploited instead of the kids whose lives they ruin.

  To think that this is entrapment is ridiculous. In many of these locales, these pervs are breaking the law just by talking dirty to an underage person, (and btw, it’s irrelevant if the actual person on the other end is not underage. What the criminal thinks is what counts). In addition, these guys are driving to the girl’s house, for crying out loud. To think that they wouldn’t go through with a sex act if allowed is living in a dream land.

  Keep it up NBC. It’s one of the few things you’re doing right these days.

• 58. gramkeln  |  March 12th, 2008 at 12:00 pm

  The idea behind the show is great!, but there really is no reason for the show to be on television except to satisfy the same idiots who watch reality TV or to somehow make themselves feel better.

• 59. Mark Brownlee  |  March 23rd, 2008 at 2:02 am

  I do not think this show should ever be taken off the air. It sends out a good and clear message to everyone that if they are thinking about doing this to kids…..THEY NEED TO STOP THINKING AND GO GET SOME REAL PSYCHIATRIC HELP. However, I do have to say I can not see where they are literally caught red handed guilty of actually molesting or harming anyone, so no I do not think they should get the full force of pedophile prosecution, and as the show indicates….most of them dont get that. Very many of them are cut deals as they are in fact no doubt guilty of “attempting” lewd and lascivious acts upon minors and “attempting” to meet minors for illegal sexual activity. I furthermore think that all of these men should be MADE to get psychiatric treatment regardless of whatever other punishment is dealt to them.
  We also do not get to see the whole truth of the chat logs…..so we actually do NOT see how much of the sexual encounter/chat that the decoys are actually initiating. If in fact it is true that the decoys are doing half or more of the leading on in any case……then unfortunately I have to say that this is way too much like entrapment. The decoy should in no kind of way initiate the dirty chatting or suggesting of meeting; but going along with the perpetrator IF he starts it all FIRST ; absolutely because thats how the sting is made. Otherwise if its the decoys that are initiating the sexual chat and suggestives of real life encounters…..then it is the decoys that literally create the situation. i.e. creating more problems than they are solving. They want to be sticking to the perpetrators who are aggressively coming on to kids, because they will be by far the most dangerous (and certainly easier to bait and catch)

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