"You can make a request to the superior court," said Wadkins, "but there is no judge in Georgia who is going to let your husband live with your daughters.". If the police ask us a question, we answer. He grimaced. Jerry Lambe is a journalist at Law&Crime. "This [note] is to inform you that Todd West has been convicted of charges stemming from his arrest in the Dateline NBC/Perverted Justice sting operationin which he solicited, for sexual purposes, someone he believed to be 14 years of age," read the e-mail. So the guys dont see it. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Todd can't live with you." We do a vast amount of research on these men: does he have a concealed weapons permit? But she has a 13-year-old and an 11-year-old. It was devoted to impersonating To Catch a Predator is an American reality television series that features hidden camera investigations by the television news magazine program Dateline NBC. She often wondered, Am I the example I want to be? Hansens last segment aired in late 2007. Her phone rang endlessly. With the visitor's phone held tightly in her hand, she asked him the question that had been gnawing at her: "How old did she say she was?" That's about as far as Todd gets. A few days after Todd's arrest, Todd's roommate and Dianna made the drive to the Harris County jail. Ad Choices. If I wasnt there, somebody would have been raped that night. In his 30-plus-year career as an investigative journalist, Chris Hansen has had occasion to come into contact with all sorts of criminal types. Father Johnson and his wife testified on Todd's behalf, but the judge wasn't swayed. Chris talks with Casey Mauro, who was the decoy actress in the Dateline NBC To Catch A Predator investigation episodes in New Jersey and Kentucky. "I kept expecting people to run up to us on the streetto yell at Todd. "I believe that people should be able to redeem themselves.". But she's the GOAT decoy. When the man arrives, Dateline and the police pounce. When Dianna was 15, she'd been sexually molested by an older man. Jeffrey Stacey - Predator: It's a question! May 5, 1987 Technical Specs, See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro, field producer / executive producer / associate producer (12 episodes, 2004-2007), field producer / associate producer (9 episodes, 2006-2007), producer / additional producer (7 episodes, 2005-2006), senior investigative producer (7 episodes, 2006-2007), assistant producer / associate producer (6 episodes, 2005-2006), executive producer (6 episodes, 2006-2007), field producer / producer (4 episodes, 2005-2007), assistant producer (4 episodes, 2006-2007), assistant producer (2 episodes, 2005-2006), associate producer (2 episodes, 2005-2006), specialty camera / camera operator (12 episodes, 2005-2007), camera operator / specialty camera (11 episodes, 2005-2007), camera operator / specialty camera (9 episodes, 2006-2007), specialty camera / camera operator (7 episodes, 2005-2007), specialty camera / camera operator (7 episodes, 2006-2007), additional camera / camera operator (4 episodes, 2005-2007), camera operator / specialty camera (4 episodes, 2006), additional camera / camera operator (3 episodes, 2006), camera operator / additional camera (3 episodes, 2006), additional camera / camera operator (2 episodes, 2006). Sokol has pleaded not guilty to second-degree attempted sexual assault and is awaiting trial. A blurred image pops up on the screen: It's a shot of Todd's penis, which he sent the girl via webcam. The network was sued for $105 million and settled out of court. When asked about how the series came about, Hansen explained that, The idea grew out of a conversation I had years ago, with a fellow reporter, a friend of mine. But with the help of a new Kickstarter campaign, Hansen is hoping to change that and unleash a. Jessica plucked from the bookshelf one of her favorites from the American Girl Library: The Care & Keeping of You: The Body Book for Girls with a cover illustration of three young girls wrapped in bath sheets. To Catch a Predator was an American news expos series that featured hidden camera investigations by the television newsmagazine program Dateline NBC. A recent study found that one in five children online is approached by a sexual predator, a predator who may try to set up a face-to-face meeting. "He came all this way!" The decoy then tells the man her parents are away and invites him "home"to a house outfitted with hidden cameras. A life where Todd could meet her daughters only in public and only if at least six unrelated adults were present? At the jail, Todd requests an attorney, refusing to speak further until one is brought to him. Is he a police officer? When she first told him why Todd was in prison, he exploded, saying, "I don't want that piece of st around my kids!" A few times, she had to greet the predators on the beach with Chris emerging from behind the boardwalk after the predators made it to her. Two weeks after Todd went to jail, a Perverted Justice fan sent an e-mail to Todd's online friends. Five men in Oklahoma have been arrested after law enforcement authorities conducted a four-day sting to catch child sex predators. "We've hired a young-looking 19-year-old named Amanda to play the part of . Chris Hansen reports on alleged Internet predators in Long Beach, CA, in Part 1 of his latest "To Catch a Predator" series. "You love him, and we love him.". It's always the potential predator that does that., One commenter noted how odd it seems when people actually take the cookies and/or sweet tea being offered to them by the decoy, to which Hansen replied that Probably 30% of them do. On her weekly two-hour drives to the prison, Dianna would be greeted by an increasingly fragile and withdrawn Todd. Dianna and Todd refused to watch it, but in living rooms across the country, 8.7 million viewers heard a voice-over say: "We've hired a young-looking 19-year-old named Amanda to play the part of an underage girl home alone. . As they traveled, the roommate said that a few weeks earlier he and Todd had watched an episode of Dateline: To Catch a Predator. Investigators said all five of the alleged predators cooperated with authorities and admitted to their intentions when they met these decoys.. Extremely disturbing: 5 men charged in child predator sting using decoys posing as 14 and 15 year olds. The only bright spot: He could be eligible for parole within a year or two. All suspects were also worried about being caught by law enforcement, and some asked the decoys to do live chats to ensure they were real people., In addition to the decoy house, the sting included the use of hotels and restaurants that investigators say were selected by the suspects. "Not especially," he says. They played the roles and communicated with the alleged predators. But no assignment has made him as familiar a face to audiences as To Catch a Predator, the hidden camera segment-turned-series in which Hansen and a team of decoys helped to expose a parade of Internet sex predators in a series of bizarre encounters that began with chocolate chip cookies and sweet tea and ended with Hansen instructing the suspect to have a seat.. NBC But the series ended after some negative headlines, which included one of the show's targets dying by . Have I done my daughters irreparable harm? And experts in the field say when it comes to female predators, you're more likely to see the teacher/student scenario, as opposed to someone meeting anonymously online. According to the sheriffs office, Otha Smith traveled the farthest of the five suspects, driving about five hours to meet one of the decoy actresses at a hotel. If we find out theres potential danger, the police arrest him before he comes in we dont want a dangerous situation. I said, How did you know that? And he said, I watch the show all the time, and when I miss an episode, I download it from the Internet., There was only one investigation where some of the cases were not prosecuted," Hansen explained when asked about a story that a handful of cases were thrown out due to a legal technicality. The show didn't ultimately cave to criticism about "entrapment." By going to the location of their own volition to try and sleep with someone they believed to be a minor, the perps on To Catch a Predator were freely attempting to engage in illegal activity on their own. Got this from the To Catch a Predator fandom wiki. Click this link for the original source of this article. In her conflicted frame of mind, she began thinking ahead to the next year, when Todd could possibly be out on parole. Chris Hansen hosts the "To Catch a Predator" segment on "Dateline NBC" in this 2006 photo. "I loved Todd, but I wasn't sure about my decision," she says. Then, in 2006, one of those men committed suicide. Can we count on your support today? Now she wasn't sure what to do. NEW EVIDENCE! On the drive to Todd's apartment, Dianna listened to his side of the story. One thing you see a lot about today is how difficult it is for sex offenders to find jobs and housing when they get out. What the woman told her next made Dianna's hands and knees tremble so hard she had to pull over to the side of the road. If you view these people as sick, how do you square that? To Catch a Predator: With Chris Hansen, Stone Phillips, Del Harvey, Dennis Kerr. He chatted with the decoy named mystyk_roses for a week.". (When Glamour asked Perverted Justice about Todd's claim that the decoy lured him back, a spokesperson said, "A decoy will often call the suspect to ensure he's not lost on the way to the home." Trace Turkelson, William Copeland IV, Cody Ewing, Tracy Fisher, and Otha Smith III (Canadian County Sheriffs Office). Official Sites Weve been absolutely transparent about our methodology who the decoys are, where the police are, etc. ", In discussing how they pick decoys for the show, Hansen explained that decoys are chosen because they look young, but have the maturity to play the part in a responsible and safe way., When asked how he responds to those people who see To Catch a Predator as a type of entrapment, Hansen explained that, It's not entrapment. For more information, please see our | ", Rachel fell silent, then asked, "What's that? Donations from readers like you are essential to sustaining this work. I still think he's nice. All movies, books and CDs with references to children were banned. When asked whether his famous have a seat line will be utilized in the new show, Hansen confirmed, Yes, of course. The suspects are accused of sending nude photos to the decoys and describing sex acts the arrestees desired to perform with the purported girls. Todd seemed like the furthest thing from that," she says. The site also posted a profile about Todd's crime, with links to his e-mail address, IM names and phone number. In the past three years, with the help of an organization called Perverted Justicea vigilante Internet group whose volunteers pose as children to flush out potential sex offendersDateline has shown on national television the capture of more than 263 men, many of whom were seeking sex with minors. On the day before Valentine's Day 2007, Todd went to prison. Theyre either defending themselves, explaining themselves, or confessing their sins. Dumb.". The next night, Dianna posted Todd's bail. Chris Hansen himself even said it, he said that his best decoy was Casey Mauro. Not to say that it hasn't happened, it has, but it just hasn't come up in one of our investigations. Have you come to have views on this? "Oh, honey," the woman said, "I am so sorry.". 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