Dateline, "To Catch A Predator"

Being the boring person I am after work I have found no other hobbies but watching TV, I have recently stumbled across "To Catch A Predator" on NBCs hit show Dateline. I saw one where the weirdo was trying to conivnce a 14 year girl he thought he was chatting with online to have sex with a cat, he was given no jail time, but was given probation... But I really think I digressed from the point I was trying to make, out of the 130 that were surfaced as "Sex Predators" only 98 are being prosectued I think this is a a serious crime and should be punished more accordingly and from this I conclude that NBC's Dateline does not care about the kids but only cares about their ratings.

www.msnbc.msn.com...

I am all for catching these degenerates, but i believe they should be caught by the local and states police department.

Dateline has found a way to make $$$$$$$- IT IS ABOUT RATINGS. They cant be blamed, though. From a business prespective, not only are they making the money, they are providing a "service" - America's Most Wanted is in it for the money. "DOG-the bounty Hunter is making dough, above and beyond what he would normally make because he's on TV. My only concern is where they will stop.
Will we see a show about "Morals" and have your picture taken at the local tavern slurring your words?

I don't understand what DateLine has to do with whether or not all of these animals are prosecuted or not. DateLine is essentially an observer to a sting setup by the local police working with Perverted Justice. They have nothing to do with the legal process after the scumbag walks out the door. Also, the last episode I watched said that of all the people they've caught, a handful have pleaded guilty and are in the sentencing process and the rest (who have pleaded innocent... as if) are awaiting trial. I didn't hear about anyone being on probation. More importantly they are all required to register as sex offenders. Personally I'd rather see them fed feet first into a wood chipper.

I for one think it is incredible how many people they are catching. What kind of society are we living in? I wonder how long it toook them to find all these guys on the internet. This scares the crap out of me.

When I have kids im not going to let any of them use the internet unsupervised.

Everyone of us could do the same thing, and catch just as many Pervs. It is very sad.

The government wont go after these people cause then they themselves will be in more trouble when they get caught, its just that simple.

think of all the crooks, perverts, and drug users that are in the news right now, most of them are higher ups in the government, some of them are better at hiding, but some are begining to crack and come out in front of everyone.

Doesn't it seem that the people that really talk about morals and how to live your life are complete pervs and nut jobs?

I saw one where the weirdo was trying to conivnce a 14 year girl he thought he was chatting with online to have sex with a cat, he was given no jail time, but was given probation...

Why did he get in trouble with the law at all ? It seems to me more of a joke then some perverts fetish. But I only know what I read, I didnt see the episode. I told my friend and he thinks its hilarious and it sorta is. Trying to get a 14 year old girl to have sex with a cat.

[edit on 21-6-2006 by JordyPoole]

How many perverts can we have???

Are all men perverts? Is my husband a pervert and i dont know it??

Is that little man next door someone who lusts for little kids?

Is every man "Chester the Molester"??

I should include women too. I better check. Could i be a pervert?

Dear God, what has happened to society? Isnt getting it on with the ole lady not enough nowadays? I guess we could move to Colorado and marry a 12 year old, if that's where our *cough* hearts lead us......

Anyway, i know seeing it on tv raises awareness, but i have to admit i find it revolting and dont like to watch it. Why not buy a life-like inflatable doll with all the right parts who happens to be molded after an 11 year old?

Sick sick sick.

What difference does it make if Dateline gets some ratings out of this?

Most of you know by now what career I am in, and if not, see my blog. One of the things I do, is to find people on the internet that do not want to be found. Now while most of my direction is geared towards Security and Terrorism threats, I have helped some with exactly what you saw Dateline doing and I am here to tell you that the numbers of deviants out there is STAGGERING.

Although I am a HUGE proponent of free speech and an unregulated internet, the internet is the deviant child molester's number one tool of choice. The more information that is put out there by Dateline, Perverted Justice and other organizations the better.

I mainly stay with the Politics sections of ATS, but this crosses all political boundaries. It is not specific to race, sex or religion. It is a true pandemic and like the drug war, we are losing. Most Police departments are small, understaffed and can not afford to provide their communities with a specific computer crimes unit. The State organizations try and help, but again it is a matter of manpower and of course, money.

Semper

If there can be anything amusing found in these episodes, it would be the guy who was busted and actually admitted that he had watched previous episodes of "To Catch a Predator" on Dateline.

If I had to make an uneducated guess, I'd say that we've always had the same relative amount of sickos amongst us. It's just that the anonymity and relative "safety" of the internet has given these people a priceless tool when it comes to living out their sick fantasies. I applaud NBC, Perverted Justice and law enforcement for setting these stings up. These people are sick, and until I see conclusive proof that they can be cured by anything short of castration, then I think we should lock them up and throw away the key. If that doesn't work, then let me be the first on ATS to volunteer for a spot on the firing squad.

On a side note, I actually know a guy that was caught by the Philadelphia affiliate of NBC and Perverted Justice in a sting a couple years ago, before all this "To Catch a Predator" stuff became popular. He thought he was picking up a 14 year old boy, allegedly. Of course he denies that he wanted sex even though it's all peppered throughout the text and telephone transcripts. Unfortunately, because law enforcement wasn't involved in this particular sting operation, no charges were ever pressed. But he has since faced considerable embarrassment and financial damage to his company. The stigma will never escape him, and rightfully so. We always knew he was gay, and I never cared for the guy personally, but we never suspected that he was into youngsters. As much as I enjoy what has happened to him since being exposed, I still wish he were behind bars where he belongs because I doubt this was the first time he tried meeting a child and I doubt it will be the last in spite of what has happened. These people have a serious sickness of which there is no cure in my mind.

On a related note, our local NBC affiliate actually caught a ton of flack because of what they did. They received a ton of complaints from people who lived in the neighborhood where the sting took place for luring these pedophiles into their neighborhood. I think they are completely justified in their complaints. I wouldn't want one of these sting houses being set up down the street from me if I had kids. No one wants a bunch of horny guys from the internet coming to their neighborhood searching for young skin. I mean, whats to stop them from seeing a young boy riding a bike on their way to the house, and deciding to go for a target of opportunity rather than show up at the house they were heading to. There's a million scary things that can happen. I think that when these "operations" are conducted, the utmost care must be taken when picking a setup house for these pervs to come to. I think it should be relatively remote and away from any schools or populations of children. I can just see a huge lawsuit happening if a child is abducted around one of these houses as a result of these pedophiles being lured there.

Rasputin, I agree. Its not just the show and the well intentioned capture of these perverts. Its also a problem in the neighborhoods and people dont appreciate that.

Who in their right mind would be set up after watching this show on tv? When asked if they had seen the show, most of them had.

Unreal.

The characters on this program are fine examples of how the media (and in particular, the internet), can degenerate the human mind to the level of slime. Allowing unbridled access to free speech and exchange of ideas is essential to the unregulated internet, but this system naturally breeds this sort of industry. This is what happens when you hand the lab monkey the key to its own cage: a cat and mouse game of entrapment between law enforcement and those who get carried away with their fantasies. Those so-called "predators" portrayed in the scenarios aren't actually predatory by the legal definition, just plain old sex offenders since there is no victim, much less violence. Like much of the junk coming out of the MSM, it's an effective propaganda tool which entertains without raising questions or making people think as real investigative journalism would.

I like what they are trying to do, however here in Ohio in greene or dark county i forget which one, "To Catch a Predator" got into alot of trouble, as they paid 6k to perverted justice members to set the sting up. Because they did this, they now could ruin the case and all the men they caught could go free. Maybe if we had a state/national method to do what groups like perverted justice and such do, but with out the TV in there it would be a great way to get these guys. It doesn't make for good TV either, why is it that we Americans are in love with murder, rape, internet sex schemes involving 14 year old and sex with cats..... Maybe this is where the true source of our violent ways lie, we get numbed by it...

So am I the only one who finds some sort of problem with this? I mean has anyone reputable ever done any research to find out how many "children" are being picked up for sex? Kids are having sex at earlier ages now anyway, if a 14 year old is chatting with someone twice their age, they know exactly what they're doing.

A lot of these guys seem to be pretty normal aside from the fact that they have this fantasy-thing about young girls. I'm considering the idea that somehow, our government is cultivating this perversion among the male society. How? I don't know. But why are there SO MANY of them?? Something's not right.

American Travesty

Parental neglect, abuse and violence accounts for the majority of violent deaths of children in America. Where Is the outrage?

These abduction/rape/murder's of Children is getting a huge amount of media interests but there's one point that is getting pushed further to the backseat than loose change at a shuttle launch. Shouldn't there be child neglect charge's against the parents I know it's painful to think about putting them through that, but still.... They failed to provide for the Children safety.

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[edit on 12/10/06 by JAK]

3325

Great post! I completely agree. Raising children is a HUGE responsibility and most people don't even stop to think about that before they start having them. I feel this is the primary cause of most all of the problems in our society. Lack of responsibility and poor parenting.


[edit on 12/10/06 by JAK]

essentially, the bad parenting may ultimately result in more sex offenders.

Sort of the 'chicken or the egg' scenario.

Lack of guidance today, may add to the list of offenders ten years from now. Of course, my above statement could have been mentioned 10 years ago.

Originally posted by MrJingles
Kids are having sex at earlier ages now anyway, if a 14 year old is chatting with someone twice their age, they know exactly what they're doing.

I agree with the first part. When I was in middle school, 3 of my female friends (all aged 13) became pregnant, in High School, 4 of my female friends became pregnant at the age of 15, and I heard about eight girls I didn't know also becoming pregnant at the same school. Needless to say, they didn't have a chance to finish their courses due to their pregnancies, and have now regreted that they had sex so early. I don't think they truly understand the consequences of their actions until it's too late.