Anyone watch Dateline's "To Catch a Predator"

[pokerfan]

I've seen about four of them, including tonight's. Always freaks me out until I learn that the perps always say that it was their first time trying to contact an underaged kid for sex. I always feel much better after I hear that. And every single one of them say that. So I guess it's just their bad luck that their "first time" is with a Dateline NBC film crew and the local cops.

[Control-Z]

1. There is something deeply disturbing

about the program - beyond the obvious. I've never actually watched a whole show in it's entirely. I can't.

[philosophie_en_rose]

3. It is really creepy; though I don't feel sorry for the predators.

Something is really creepy about going online and luring pedophiles to real-life locations. I'm really surprised something hasn't gone horribly wrong, like a pedophile hasn't pulled a gun or something. I don't see anything wrong with catching predators, but the show itself seems very tasteless.

I hardly feel sorry for the losers that show up. They know what they are doing, and would be preying upon real children.

The show is hardly news (let alone entertainment), but maybe some pedophile will think twice before trying to arrange sex with children.

[Control-Z]

4. I have a 13 year old

I can't even allow my mind to go where it would if...

No question these predators are scum.

But couldn't they accomplish the same, possibly more, without putting it on national television?

What about the wives and families of these predators? They are victims too and deserve, at the very least, a little privacy.

And where do you draw the line on this kind of production? Procuring medical Marijuana? Seeking abortion services?

I don't know.

[philosophie_en_rose]

5. I agree. It doesn't need to be televised.

I saw a commercial where one of the pedophiles brought his son. They had a blurred spot over the kid's head, but not the predator. So pretty much anyone that knew the father would also know the identity fo the kid. That's just not right.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

8. Not only that, but it warns every pedophile who watches TV.

But, of course, satisfying punishist fetishes is more important than the actual security of children.

[philosophie_en_rose]

12. What's wrong with warning pedophiles?

Those guys aren't fetishists talking dirty online; they are actual predators that show up to have sex with children.

I don't think it needs to be televised, but I see nothing wrong with what they're doing otherwise.

No one forces these people to show up.

[Left Is Write]

15. If televising it raises awareness among the general public...

and helps teens and their parents be a little more careful, I'm all for it.

Whether that is a result or not, I don't know.

[Haole Girl]

16. Yet one more reason I'm glad I don't have children! n/t

[LiberalHeart]

2. I'm watching it now. Taped it earlier.

I'm to the point where the doctor is about to get popped.

[Rhiannon12866]

6. I've seen several of them.

I ran across the first one by accident, when I was home and channel surfing on a weekend, and I was both shocked and mesmerized. I realize that this sort of thing does happen, but that there were so many and that they were so brazen, absolutely appalled me. I didn't think that I could be shocked by much, but this sure did, especially the guy who came back the next day, fell for it twice! These guys have to be really obsessed to take such chances and really sick. I'm glad that they started bringing the cops in and making arrests. I don't get this, nor do I have a solution, but grown men looking for kids on-line should definitely be stopped... Yikes! x(

[Floogeldy]

7. Yes, and it is an awesome show.

I'm surprised more guys do not immediately run.

[Oeditpus Rex]

9. Another desperate, voyeuristic attempt by the MSM

to get us to watch their shameless networks.

Dog, I miss "the news."

[Left Is Write]

10. I watch it.

I find it oh-so-interesting that every single one of the people caught absolutely insist that they "weren't going to do anything" and that they just came to "talk" or "make a new friend."

Right. Every last one of them is always completely innocent in his motives. They all talk about what a "stupid mistake" they made, and yet they all knew exactly what they were doing.

Creeps.

[gizmo1979]

11. Don't those idiots

watch TV?They've been doing this for over a year and they still fall for it.

[Blue_In_AK]

13. I think a more important question that nobody seems to be

asking is why in the world are there so many of these guys out there. What is it about our society that's causing all this deviancy? Is it such a problem in other countries? I know there's a lot of child sexual slavery in the Far East, but is the clientele Asians or mostly Westerners?

[Kutjara]

14. More 'shocking' entertainment for the jaded masses.

Another step on the road to 'The Running Man.'

Yes, paedophiles and sexual predators are scum and deserve everything they get, etc, but the use of these creeps as television spectacle is also disgusting. The question is not whether it's right to show these people on tv because of the effect it has on their lives. The question is whether it is right because of the effect it has on ours. We become desensitized to seeing people singled-out for punishment (just as reality tv has desensitized us to seeing people singled-out for ridicule). Each time, the media pushes the boundary a bit further and, each time, the public shows itself to have an unquenchable appetite for more.

It won't be very long before executions are televised. Is that where we want to go?

[Left Is Write]

19. But you know what? The show has gotten people talking.

We're talking openly about something that would been (and was) swept under the rug in times past. Let's get awareness up among complacent parents. Let's let kids know that there are truly dangerous people out there and fooling around on the internet should be approached with extreme caution. How many of these predators are, despite their claims, on their "first" encounter?

[Kutjara]

27. But, as the saying goes...

"the road to Hell is paved with good intentions." While it is undeniable that making children aware of the danger of Internet predators is a good thing, I'm not sure this is the way to do it. We could equally argue that televising the torture of suspected terrorists will make us all more aware of the dangers of terrorism, or that televising executions will make us more aware of the dangers of violent crime.

I still believe that presenting crime and punishment as mass entertainment nakes us all a little less human.

[vickitulsa]

31. I agree with you on the bigger picture here.

Desensitization is drawing this country's citizens down into a hell they have no clue they're entering, IMO.

Many of the "reality TV" programs are contributing hugely to the trend toward a miserable end. Audiences are encouraged to delight in witnessing devious betrayals of former friends or partners. Groups are invited to single out a most-disliked member or weakest link and then to ridicule, punish, and oust him or her.

The lowest and least respectable of behaviors and traits are actually morphing into admired ones these days. Americans wonder how our Congress could have voted into law the same sort of torturing of captives that Jack Bauer is applauded for on the popular drama series "24."

It's not just that show where we see torture on vivid display in our "entertainment," either. The most popular dramas, and especially those about crime and the cowboy "heroes" who supposedly fight it, include frequent graphic scenes of torture and many references to it. Sometimes it's the bad guys that are tortured to get information; sometimes it's the good-guy heroes or innocent victims who are subject to the ultimate cruelty the viewers can stomach.

The problem is that audiences are desensitized bit by bit and slowly by this prevalence of all sorts of despicable behavior by humans upon other humans being disseminated through many media forms and outlets.

My theory is that when viewers are sickened by what they see and hear while at the same time they are drawn to it, mesmerized by it, then we've got a huge problem with what we consider our "entertainment." And that speaks worlds about our culture and where it's headed.

[Jack_Dawson]

22. I Feel Sorry for the Perps

because obviously they had some kind of fucked up childhood to be on the show in the first place. Now they've been "outed" for our entertainment, and their families' humiliation.

"Wasn't your DAD on Dateline the other night?"

[alcibiades_mystery]

17. I don't know who are the bigger perverts

The people on the show, or the weirdos watching it.

[Left Is Write]

18. I watch the show, so I guess that makes me a weirdo and a pervert.

[alcibiades_mystery]

21. You said it...

:shrug:

[Left Is Write]

23. Actually, you did.

Are the people who watch the show perverts and weirdos or not?

[Jack_Dawson]

24. Dateline appeals to the Masses, yes

If you are of the masses, then you are probably in the majority.

:beer:

[Left Is Write]

25. The poster I'm replying to compared the viewers unfavorably...

to the actual predators. Yeah, I'm going to take exception when someone has to "wonder" who is more "perverted" - the viewers or the actual creeps who prey on children. And calling the viewers "weirdos."

[Jack_Dawson]

26. There is a voyeristic sickness to the show...

but I guess it's compelling television.

Having said that though, I don't think we need to humiliate these poor people (and their families) on a national scale. That doctor, for instance, will never find work again. His life and his family's life is essentially over, because he made an error in judgement. He didn't actually molest anyone.

[pokerfan]

30. an error in judgement!!!!!!?????

How can you defend him?

That doctor, for instance, will never find work again. His life and his family's life is essentially over, because he made an error in judgement. He didn't actually molest anyone.

Oh, boo fucking hoo. Solicitation of a minor is still a crime.

He shows up prepared for sex with a 13 year old and you are defending him? Because he was stopped before he could molest anyone?

Fortunately it was his first time.

(yeah, right)

Isn't it amazing how this Dateline show only snares first timers?

[alcibiades_mystery]

29. Perhaps rather than taking exception

You should practice some reflection. For the record, yes, I do indeed wonder whether the perverts who stay glued to the screen for this nonsense are sicker than the perverts who prey on children.

You damn fucking skippy, I wonder.

At least the pervs on the show are living something, however despicable it is. The pervs who watch are living some sicko vicarious revenge narrative, despicable more for its crushing passivity to power than for its actual abuse on anyone. The pervs on the show abuse others. The pervs oin their living room abuse themselves, and everyone else. Fucking COP fetish of the worst kind, little private fascism. Yes, anyone who watches that show is disgusting. There, I said it. What?

[Phentex]

33. How do you know what happens on the show?

Unless you've seen it?

[alcibiades_mystery]

34. I watched it once, found it despicable, and haven't seen it since

You know, the way people generally make judgments about things? It's the people that watch it every two weeks for two years now that have me worried. Sickos.

[alcibiades_mystery]

28. Er, yes, they are

So I guess you are.

[deadparrot]

20. I have a kind of sick fascination with those types of shows.

The ones that go "inside" some shadowy issue, like polygamy, cults, child beauty pagents, etc. Pretty sick and scary when you learn that these people are teachers, members of law enforcement, religious leaders, etc. :puke:

[warrior1]

32. I checked out PJ webbie FAQ's

one of the questions I had was how the perps got into contact with the decoy. This is what they said.

Do you contact the men or do they contact you?
A. We have an official "rules of engagement" that we instruct to a contributor when they're brought aboard to help out with the site. One of those rules is that unless asked to in the chat, always let the male PM you. That way they can't cry that the "kid" messaged them in IM first, they have to take the first step. Typically, and I stress typically one of our operatives will be chatting on the main screen, or announce their presence (A/S/L) in the rooms . . . sadly, and typically, they almost always receive interest. Often, just entering a chat room is enough to get 3-10 instant messages at once without having to say anything.

We are philosophically against anyone or any organization that contacts people first as underage personas. There is no reason to do that when online predators are so numerous and motivated to contact what they think is a 10-15 year old male or female first. We want threats and we are happy to wait as long as it takes to find them. Return to top

more at the site

http://www.perverted-justice.com/index.php?pg=faq#17

[begin_within]

35. Isn't that entrapment?

I don't see how what "Dateline" and "Perverted Justice" are doing could NOT be entrapment. And how can it be a crime of "soliciting sex with a minor" when there was no minor involved at all?

[pokerfan]

36. Entrapment

It is my understanding that for an entrapment defense to be successful, the defendant must demonstrate that the police induced an otherwise unwilling person to commit a crime.

As far as the actual thirteen year old never existing, I guess it would depend on what they are being charged with. The can't be charged with actual molestation or rape so it must be some form of solicitation in which case the "intent" or "willingness" to commit the crime becomes the issue.

But I'm not an attorney.

[Floogeldy]

38. You make a great point.

Unfortunately, the Rehnquist court extinguished that defense. Now it is okay to charge people under circumstances that have nothing to do with reality. Did I mention that the Fourth Amendment has been totally shredded to fucking pieces, too?

}(

[Hosnon]

37. I watch it. To me, sexual preference isn't a choice at all and these guys

just got dealt a shitty hand. In that way, I sympathize with them.

However, it is illegal and they know that.

Why not date an 18 year old who looks 12?