"To Catch A Predator" And Other Stings...

[DemocratSinceBirth]

I will preface my remarks by saying the show is voyeuristic and designed to titillate but the men I saw televised and arrested on that show all arrived at their intended destination with the intent to have sex with a minor...

That is just wrong... As a liberal I do I have empathy for anybody in distress but my empathy is tempered by one's complicity in their own distress and if a person set up an assignation to have sex with a child they are responsible for creating their own distress...


If you want to be outraged, be outraged at the garden variety prostitution stings that occur in just about every city in the United States...An adult soliciting an another adult for sex is infinitely more innocuous than a grown man soliciting a child for sex but if they are apprehended in a sting they are subject to the same public humiliation...

[annabanana]

1. The schadenfreude is too thick for me.

Their destruction is not my redemption. I don't rubberneck at car accidents either, or search out death porn on line.

not my cup of tea

[Heidi]

2. "To Catch a Predator" and "Perverted Justice" have absolutely no credibility, in my opinion.

Ethical journalists don't engage parties like Perverted Justice to assist in their investigations.

Further, a former NBC producer alleges unethical tactics by Perverted Justice and NBC in these sting operations.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0529071nbc1.html

[DemocratSinceBirth]

3. We Have Two Different Conversations Going On...

You can deplore the voyeuristic journalism on "To Catch A Predator" without having sympathy for the perps or rationalizing their behavior...

From what I saw all those men ensnared on the show would have had sex with a minor if they could find a ready , willing, and able one...

Hate the show... Hate the perp...

[Heidi]

5. I didn't say I have empathy for the perps, nor did I rationalize their behavior.

Not sure where you're coming from with the "sympathy for the perps" and "rationalizing their behavior" bit.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. I Apologize

I was using the royal we...

The show is voyeuristic and icky... but those perps are for real... To a one I'd bet my life they would have sex with a kid if they could get away with it and I'd also bet my life that a majority of them know they will be doing serious emotional damage to the kid in the process...

It's just real hard to feel sorry for them...

[fasttense]

4. Seems undercover cops are always arresting

men (mostly) for trying to solicit sex from people they thought were prostitutes. Yet I hear very little sympathy for people caught in those stings. Yet when these creeps are caught in similar stings people are claiming these predators are really victims. I have no sympathy for them. But I've only watched the shows once. I found them repetitious, boring and very sad. I think televising the stings makes these predators seem more human and sympathetic, especially when they hem and haw, cry and beg forgiveness.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

8. That Was My Point

I live in greater Orlando and the South Orange Blossom Trail used to be one of the more popular areas for street prostitution not only in Florida but in the entire nation...Naturally there were always stings... And the men ensnared in these stings were subject to humiliation...I'd argue their behavior was fairly innocuous compared to the activities of child predators but I didn't see any sympathy for them when they were publicly humiliated...

[tkmorris]

7. I'm sorry, but I'm not certain that's true

In an earlier thread a poster claimed some inside knowledge, and further said that often what happened is that the "bait" changed their online profile to reflect their minor status AFTER initial contact was made. In such a case why would the alleged predator check the profile again and "discover" that their newly found friend was presumably a minor?

It would seem that the networks are going to great lengths to make sure they have predators to televise, and if they are having difficulty filling their quota they are engaging in shady methods to entrap them. This is the problem with crime as entertainment, you have to ensure that it happens on schedule, and if it doesn't the pressure to manufacture it is just too great.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

9. When The Men Arrived At Their Destinations Did They Expect To Find Adults Or Children?

I saw one man sitting on a park bench and one man sitting on a beach with a person who could not be mistaken for anything but a child...

[Warren Stupidity]

10. If the profile says 'adult' and the adult is role playing

the person in question may have thought that they were involved in a fantasy role playing sex escapade.

"I saw one man sitting on a park bench and one man sitting on a beach with a person who could not be mistaken for anything but a child..."

You should reflect on that sentence. The crimes listed are 'sitting on a park bench being male' and 'sitting on a beach with a child being male'. I, and my guess is that 90% of the other men here on this board have committed both of these chilling offenses.

I have no problem with prosecuting people for real crimes, for example for really trying to have sex with a real child. Really trying to have sex with an adult pretending to be a child is not, in my opinion, a crime. Setting up this sort of dubious nonsense for purposes of television ratings is twisted beyond comprehension.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

11. If They Were Engaged In Role Play Then That's Not A Matter For Law Enforcement

The transcripts indicated that these adults were engaging in sexual banter with persons they believed to be children... In role play the players know the other is acting...


"You should reflect on that sentence. The crimes listed are 'sitting on a park bench being male' and 'sitting on a beach with a child being male'. I, and my guess is that 90% of the other men here on this board have committed both of these chilling offenses."



I don't think ninety percent of adults engaged in sexual banter with a person they believed to be a minor on the "internets" and then drove hundreds of miles from their home to an isolated beach and park to meet that person for a tryst...

[Warren Stupidity]

12. You left out 'sexual banter' in your post.

Which was my point. The first 'crime' is 'sitting on a park bench'. The second you described as 'sitting on a beach with a child'. Your sentence was quoted in its entirety. Even with the additional information, there is no crime.

The beach incident involved a woman who was not in fact a child, if I understand correctly. I am really curious as to what crime has been committed by a man who is enticed by a woman who looks young but isn't to engage in sexual banter? What crime is committed by a man who is sitting on a park bench some distance from his home?

[MadHound]

13. While I have full sympathy for all victims of child sexual abuse,

I have some huge problems with "To Catch a Predator". First, is the questionable legality, ethics and constitutionality of this program. Bits and pieces are now starting to emerge as to problems with NBC and the group that they use in these stings, Perverted Justice. Accusations of entrapment, shoddy police work, etc.

Second, I find the whole spectacle of nationaly televised stings to be distasteful. I think making a voyeuristic spectacle out of a sting operation is just wrong. Something about doing justice for money is rather disturbing also. What's next, Running Man?

Sorry, but these spectacles need to be done away with.