Reviewed by Melissa Garza
To Catch a Predator was a great segment on Dateline NBC that aired from November 2004 to December 2007. Chris Hansen and an organization that deserves to be applauded, Perverted=Justice was responsible for the arrest and conviction of perverts who had sexually explicit conversations with decoys they thought were between 12 and 15.
The scumbags would then generally drive to the houses of these people who were supposed to be children only to be confronted both by Chris Hansen and then the police officers. They would be arrested and charged.
The show ended shortly after a perverted D.A., Louis “Bill” Conradt Jr. contacted a decoy and had a sexually explicit conversation. He unlike most didn’t drive to the home. As it is illegal to make those types of remarks to young children, a swat team and To Catch a Predator confronted this douchebag at his own house. Instead of facing the charges, he took his own life and then everyone under the sun blamed the show. Let’s be real. This guy was a loser who at the very least made inappropriate remarks to a child. The family of pervert Bill sued and NBC settled. I wish they hadn’t. It isn’t their fault that this scumbag didn’t want to face the music and committed suicide. Screw him. The sad truth is that he was a pervert and kids are probably a lot safer now that he’s dead. If only other pedophiles would follow suit!
Another thing that pisses me off is that Chris Hansen was crucified in the media for having an affair with a 30 year old and the media compared it to the cameras that caught the pedophiles on tape. It’s completely different. I hate infidelity but pedophilia and infidelity are two completely different things and Hansen’s dedication to getting these losers off the street is commendable. With all these bullshit reality TV shows on that do nothing it was refreshing to have a show that was able to bring in pedophiles and put them where they belong. Children were safer. God Bless Chris Hansen and his show.
Lastly, there was controversy because Dateline paid the people behind Perverted-Justice. This had everyone up in arms too comparing it to journalists paying for a story. It wasn’t the case. These guys were doing a lot of work to bring the pedophiles in and deserved to be paid.
America’s Most Wanted was recently picked up on Lifetime. It would be nice if To Catch a Predator was picked up by them as well. As long as these perverts know that there’s a chance they could end up on TV and that decoys are out there, it may keep them away from kids. It could not only act as a deterrent but also catch the ones that are not scared off by the show.
