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To Catch A Predator still going

by Adam Finley, posted Jul 2nd 2007 8:02PM

chris hansenI've never been a fan of Dateline's "To Catch A Predator." Despite helping to put sexual predators behind bars, the series is tainted by egregious spectacle, and recently resulted in the suicide of one man in Murphy, Texas. Consequently, the district attorney has refused to prosecute the other twenty-four men who were caught in the sting.

Readers can discuss in the comments the value of one man's life over that of anyone else's, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. What I'm saying is, despite selling the show as some kind of humanitarian crusade, reporter Chris Hansen and the producers behind "To Catch A Predator" both want and need that moment of public humiliation for the show to work and for people to watch. They're putting out a fire, yes, but they're doing it by throwing manure on it.

It's the overriding childishness that gets to me: a man seeking sex from a child is himself caught through childish methods. Sexual predators should be arrested and tried in court, but watching Hansen and his crew slip a whoopee cushion under the whole proceeding is neither good journalism nor compelling TV.

But do the ends justify the means? Perhaps, but I would submit that the methods used to catch these men would still work without being broadcast on television.

Two more editions of "To Catch A Predator" will air this month.

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fryingguy

NBC continues to use this footage to ruin many many livs. NBC continues to sell abvertising at the expense of these men. Yes, what these men are doing is disgusting and they deserve to be put in jail. But for NBC to play this over and over is just as disgusting. Lets face it NBC continues to run these programs and as they do they profit from this. I am offically dicontinuing to watch NBC.There are many more pedofiles out there and as can be seen each time you do this. Stupid criminals continue to get caught and that will never, ever change. Its just like Johns stopping to have sex with an easy mark HOOKERS. What would really be funny is to see one of these guys
pull a knife and hold Chris at knifepoint untill he pisses himself. Now that would be worth watching. Not to hurt Chris of course, but wouldn't that be crazy funny. And another thing 20 seconds of action after 5 or 8 hours of waiting. How many people would watch if this was done in real time. Let the Cops do what they are paid to do and have Hansen come up with much more interesting stories. You have wore this out, like and old chair.

February 14 2011 at 12:43 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ryan

ok aside from attacking me there was no valid argument. i dont coerse i dont trick and i dont promise anything how ever if a 14 yrold girl came onto me or decided to flash me or wanted to make out with me i would not say no. and at the same time i would not ask. i simply wait for them to ask me. u know i have had sex with alot of older girls say 17 and on up and they were highly immature how ever when i was much younger me and my 16 yrold G/F at the time had the hottest sex immaginable and she was very mature about it she lost her virginity when she was 13 and was very skilled at what she did and not once did she ever make a big deal about it. and let me just say this again it was by fer the greatest sex ive ever had. i had sex with a 18 yrold once and she literally wanted me to take her virginity i have nvr been with a virgin before so i said what the heck y not. well i know better now. she went back to her school the next day told all her friends went to some church camp over the summer became a born again christian and found jesus and now she claims that i raped her. after telling all her friends how much she enjoyed it and how many times we did it. and ill be honest and this goes to all the guys who fantsize about fucking virgins it is not all its cracked up to be infact is sucks.

August 06 2007 at 11:40 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Stephi

Ryan....you are obviously an inarticulate, poorly educated, barely literate moron. But from what you've said, I would expect nothing else. Your view that young teens are sex objects for your enjoyment disgusts me. Just because society exploited young women decades ago does not make it alright now....you imbecile. People grew up faster in the past - life spans were shorter, work started earlier, and childhood was brief. In our world now we prolong childhood into the teen years to keep both boys and girls sheltered from bastards like you who can seriously mess with a young person's mental and emotional development. Maybe it wasn't always like that, but it is now - the world has changed, numb nut - get used to it! If young girls experiment they should be on an equal footing with their partners - instead of being the object of an older man's fantasy for a little girl who's just barely stopped playing with Barbies and sleeping with Teddy Bears. You sicken me.

P.S. I'm 21 and my breasts do not sag, I don't have cellulite, and a person like you would be terrified to be with me because you wouldn't know what to say to someone who's managed to pass grade 10. Dumbass.

P.P.S. If TCAP can put away morons like Ryan, I'll support it until the bitter end!

August 05 2007 at 7:17 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Justin

^^^ agreed!

July 26 2007 at 8:40 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
domdz

oh poor predators, forgive me if i have no sympathy for their humilation, they made their choice now they get to reep the benefits, hey it's not like your entitled to privacy when your not in your own house if you choose to meet someone in public or in their house then you've forfeited your privacy, but yes lets sit here and sympathize with the predators and to bad they had to stumble in to chris hansen instead of a real boy or girl

July 23 2007 at 5:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
BobWelder

First they set traps for the perverts and creeps, but I kept silent because I may have done some creepy things. Then they went to the perverts homes and knocked down the doors, but I kept silent because I didn't live in that neighborhood. Then they assumed that everyone that committed suicide must be guilty of something, but I kept silent because I once wondered what would happen when I died. Finally they came for me because I had jaywalked once, but there was no one to stand up for me.

July 23 2007 at 2:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Karwolo

The DA who dropped those charges should be prosecuted if any of those perverts molest, or even worse, kill an actual child. Now I don't have a child of my own but i have a 13 year old sister living with me - the same age as most of the 'kids' of TCAP- and if a guy should ever show up he would wish there was Chris and his cameras instead. And Adam, u and all those who think predators should be spared the humilation of being caught on tape, you really don't have to watch.

July 23 2007 at 2:29 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jorge sosa

you're a fucking moron!!

July 23 2007 at 2:14 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
infrequent

it is voyueristic and sensationalized.

as far as doing any good? if it was such a deterrent, why has a great majority of those caught actually seen the show?

why not find the teens who are meeting with older people and "catch" them to teach them a valuable lesson?

some of these guys absolutely deserve to be arrested. and maybe -- after found guilty -- to appear on national tv. even that seems crude.

but many of these 40+ year old guys will NEVER EVER actually appeal to a young teenager. these decoys really play along as if they are game. given the chance the prev errs... but under normal circumstances they would not harm anyone.

July 19 2007 at 2:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ryan

OK where to begin lets start with this paedophilia is the love of prepubescent youngboys we are dealing alot more with in the ephobophilia range with tcap. ephobophilia is the love of postpubescent young girls. now i know all u high strung volvo driving soccer moms are deeply feared and ignorant to the fact that your daughter might be sexually advancing towards an older guy but please no need to over react. 1 in 4 males that u know if given the chance would have sex with an underage girl. almost 90 percent of all the times this happens in the country it is willing only a very few and discusting percent actually involves children bieng molested or harmed. u nvr hear about the millions of cases where young girls will meet older guys and have hot consentual sex u only hear about the dozen or so a year that the media puts out in which a girl was brutally raped and murderd. If u are a parent and your 13 yr old daughter is finding some 30 40 50 or 60 yrold guy sexualy attractive and sexually arrousing to her then maybe u the parent should be shot. ephobophilia has been around since the dawn of man a hundred yrs ago the age of consent was 10 50 yrs ago this wasnt a big deal at all for a 25 yrold to marry a young 14 yrold onlyt in the past 20 yrs have we begun trying to shelter our children and strike fear in them and our selves. bieng gay used to be the most horrible crime in america now its accepted as socially cool. tcap will nvr catch all the predators ephobophilia isnt a drug it isnt a disease its a naturally born instinct the instinct for man to survive knowing that at a young age girls will tend to give birth to healthy young off spring though its been advanced a little bit to logical thinking now a days it is still a naturally occuring born instinct that like with most instincts can be blocked out. so guess what soccer moms and perverted-justice.com u will nvr and i mean nvr get every last paedophile off the streets. at any given time in america there are over a millions pedos online trying to catch a date with your young adult teenager if u put every wana be pedo in prison or jail for showing up to a house with a condom in habd and a penis there wouldnt be any room for the real sick people the ones who know hot to shoot guns and know how to kill with out mercy who give drugs and alcohol to your kids and teach them how to be pawns. no offense but id much rather stand next to a guy who tried giving a 14 yrold an orgasm then a guy who just got out for murdering someone. there are 2 really good reasons to keep your children off the net reason 1 so they wont get an unwanted penis between there legs and 2 so they themselves dont become predators. most of these younger guys there catching started doing this when they were 12
yep thats right 12 when they first logged on with a s/n and founf out how accessible sex with girls there own age was whether they ever meet the person or just fantasy its still sex. so u figurs your kid spends at least 2 hours on the comp every day till hes 18 and after that hes just supposed to up and stop soliciting minors for sex wrong just like ciggaretes its an addiction and a very strong one that cannot be stopped easily its like theyve been hypnotised and desencotized by porn or the thrill of seeing young girls show their tits on the net. which i dont blame them usually after about 20 girls are no longer the hotties they were at 14 they develop cellulite there tits sag to there knees they drink and smoke and have been around the block more than a couple of times and on top of that they think there so independant and have no descency left in them at all. so these guys turn back to the firm titied 14 yrold with no celulite no drug problems and no emotional baggage. remember 50 yrs ago this was not a big deal. so please parents and your hearing this straight from an ephobophiliacs mouth. GET YOUR DAMN KIDS OFF THE INTERNET. 95 percent of all those people who show up on tcap wouldnt even think about touching youd 7yrold daughter. as many of u think these people are animals but remember not even a mause would laugh at another mouse who just got caught in a trap for eating chesse. u know what i have a serious problem with necrophilia thats right fucking a corpse if thats not the most extreme form of rape i dont know what is. people u need to think past your baseball caps and see the bigger picture your daughters 14 or 15 or 16 yo bf is just as much capable of rapping her as a 25 yrold man or older. by the way the success of actually meeting a young girl online is something like 1 in 200 provided u even have the means such as transportation to do so. please e-mail me all u want id love to hear from u . ywnmc@yahoo.com oh and please dont send me hate letters and dont tell me how much your gonna turn my name into the cops or police or peej or feds or your commanding officer trust me there allready investigating me and still cannot find anything because in all actuality ive done nothing w

July 14 2007 at 11:10 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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