To Catch A Predator

About To Catch A Predator

"To Catch a Predator" is a series of hidden camera investigations by the television newsmagazine Dateline NBC devoted to the subject of identifying and detaining potential child sexual abusers who contact minors (or individuals whom they believe to be minors) over the Internet for sexual liaisons. The investigations, which have all been reported by Dateline correspondent Chris Hansen and producer Lynn Keller, are conducted as an undercover sting operation with the help of online watchdog group Perverted-Justice. Since the third installment, law enforcement and other officials have also been involved in the operation, leading to the arrests of most individuals caught in the sting. In an interview with NPR's Neal Conan on Talk of the Nation, Chris Hansen emphasizes that the subjects of his program be labeled as sexual predators: "We don't label these guys as pedophiles. Pedophiles have a very specific definition, people who are interested in prepubescent sex. What we're talking about here are potential predators".

Several other NBC affiliates, such as WTMJ in Milwaukee (which was the first news media to conduct a sting operation in cooperation with Perverted-Justice) and Kansas City's KSHB have also done local versions of "To Catch a Predator", as well as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre NBC affiliate WBRE. A spin-off called "To Catch a Con Man" was developed in early 2007 using similar methods in order to catch con men performing advance fee fraud scams. Further spin-offs have included "To Catch an ID Thief", "To Catch a Car Thief", and "To Catch an i-Jacker" (featuring iPod thieves). "To Catch a Car Thief" and "To Catch a Baby Broker" are the only spinoffs that do not include Chris Hansen, but Victoria Corderi instead.

The method used to catch would-be predators is derived from that normally used by Perverted-Justice. Perverted-Justice volunteers build profiles of clearly underage individuals on social networking websites, and enter chatrooms as decoys. They wait for an adult to message or email the decoy and begin a dialogue. If the conversation turns sexual in nature, the decoy will not discourage this. This also can help the Perverted-Justice team in collecting incriminating evidence against the alleged offender. Such evidence could include engaging in sexual conversations, sending the decoy pornography or child pornography, and committing other acts.