And it never gets tiring., 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Two weeks after Todd went to jail, a Perverted Justice fan sent an e-mail to Todd's online friends. "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.". Article continues below advertisement But I'll also have some new catchphrases as well., In discussing the ways in which Hansen vs. I still think he's nice. Dianna didn't want to get out of bed the next day. Then that changed too. Avril Lavigne Wore a Post-Breakup Statement Tee at Paris Fashion Week, Zendayas Butterfly Bob Is Springs Biggest Haircut, Gisele Bndchen Models Sheer Chic in Florida, Paris Hilton Wondered If She Was Asexual Until Meeting Husband Carter Reum, Penn Badgley Said His Relationship With Blake Lively Saved Him From a Dark Road, Naked Alison Brie Is the Best Cure for Stress, Penn Badgley Loves His Wife Too Much to Do Sex Scenes in. The elaborate sting was a joint operation between CCSO and the nonprofit organization Safe from Online Sex Abuse (SOSA). She felt she had to give him a second chance, even though it wouldn't be an easy choice to live with. And until Dianna Strawder decided to talk to Glamour, none of these women had ever spoken to a national magazine. Todd made her feel nurtured, something she'd rarely experienced with a man. Todd had been arrested for trying to solicit sex from a decoy disguised as an underage girl. To Catch a Predator Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. The Addams Family was out. When we began, we used chatrooms on AOL and Yahoo! They played the roles and communicated with the alleged predators. 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. Im not the moral arbiter of society. ), When asked about the most surprising reaction he ever received from one of his predator encounters, Hansen admitted that it was recognition. Is there a fear that amping things up with television cameras will worsen the issues depression, self-harm? It was devoted to impersonating Read allTo Catch a Predator is an American reality television series that features hidden camera investigations by the television news magazine program Dateline NBC. Ad Choices. To Catch a Predator: With Chris Hansen, Stone Phillips, Del Harvey, Dennis Kerr. Because despite his attempt at premarital jitters,' the fiance married him a month later anyway. And sometimes they freak out. Furious and confused, Dianna had had just one brief phone conversation with her fianc since the bust. Got this from the To Catch a Predator fandom wiki. 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. This wasnt the first time my office has worked with SOSA to apprehend child predators, and I hope theyll continue to be available to assist with our child predator program in the future, said West. She didn't initially tell her daughters, but later that week, when she picked them up from their father's house, she had to face a question from 13-year-old Rachel. The voice-over continues: "Thirty-seven-year-old Todd West has no problem following our decoy right into the house. And that former prosecutors said that every one of those cases could have been taken to court, should the prosecutor have chosen to do so., Though it was suggested that pursuing more female predators would be beneficial to the public, Hansen admitted that, We never had a female predator surface in our investigation. The conversations with the predators were extremely disturbing, including fetish demands, using names such as Daddy, graphic sexual acts they planned on doing to the children, and one predator talking about breeding with the female child, officials said. 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. To Catch a Predator Dateline NBC: To Catch a Predator (2004 - 2007) 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 attempt to contact children over the internet. Absolutely. When the FBI conducts sting operations targeting online predators, it refers to the men who get caught as "travelers.". The women decoys can sound like children unlike the men, men have deeper voices than women so its hard for someone with a deeper . Not everyone felt so generous toward Todd. We consult the prosecutors. "I immediately thought about leaving him. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Friends advised Dianna to leave him, saying that a criminal shouldn't be around her children. The fanbase is loyal for a few reasons. 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. The decoy then tells the man her parents are away and invites him "home"to a house outfitted with hidden cameras. And he was on the waiting list to become a cop. and nowadays, we have dozens and dozens of ways to communicate. "Todd is in trouble, baby," Dianna replied. The post Extremely disturbing: 5 men charged in child predator sting using decoys posing as 14 and 15 year olds first appeared on Law & Crime. There was a settlement in that case, so Im somewhat limited in what I can say. Two hours into their trip, near the exit for the decoy house Todd had visited, she finally exploded. Its not going away. . Justice was served. As his car headed in the other direction on the highway, the girl called his cell phone and coaxed him back. 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. We did, and I think we handled it fairly responsibly. [emailprotected]. 2020 Election Night Video Shows Ballot Shredding! But eventually the girls forgave Dianna, though they remain angry at Todd's sentence and upset about the way that Dateline tore apart their lives. It comes with the territory of dealing with people who are, at base, uncaring, self-serving individuals more concerned with fking kids than being decent human beings. So were Aeon Flux, Borat and The Swiss Family Robinson. "He called a few days later, and we were pretty much together after that." The reality is some of the people who were in the investigation were arrested in similar stings later. I think it's going to be a more sophisticated program. Thats all its about. and our 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. In her conflicted frame of mind, she began thinking ahead to the next year, when Todd could possibly be out on parole. Thats part of our protocol. If the police ask us a question, we answer. "I knew what a sex offender looked like. Five men in Oklahoma have been arrested after law enforcement authorities conducted a four-day sting to catch child sex predators. Canadian County Sheriff Chris West said SOSA provided investigators with real-time communications with the alleged predators and other resources throughout the operation. It never happened," Dianna says. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. The ironic thing about Casey is now she looks older than she is, since she's one of those hippie granola folks who's out in the sun all day, and it definitely shows on her skin now. But in an egregious case where someone is very aggressive, and poses a threat to child, if hes 19 or 20, well allow him to come in. It wasnt comfortable. In fact, I'm going to give serious thought to reaching out to some people who could take part in that. To this day, Dianna believes Todd's story. We do a vast amount of research on these men: does he have a concealed weapons permit? Knowing that youre behind us means so much. When asked about the worst scenario he ever encountered while filming To Catch a PredatorThe one that made [you] question humanity the mostHansen didnt hesitate in replying, When the guy walked in, naked and wanted to involve whipped cream and a cat in the sexual scenario. (You can see the original clip here. As Jessica and Rachel sat quietly in the back of the car, it dawned on Dianna how much Todd's arrest would affect them. [The suspects] have to make the first move, then raise the specter of sex, then come to the house. To Catch a Predator . The male and female decoys that appeared in the various stings. "We've hired a young-looking 19-year-old named Amanda to play the part of . "Can't we appeal?" Extremely disturbing: 5 men charged in child predator sting using decoys posing as 14 and 15 year olds. I have a hard time feeling sorry for him. She'd told her mother, who had confronted the abuser, but charges were never pressed. "You love him, and we love him.". And how will I put our lives back together? Click this link for the original source of this article. "And that resulted from a disagreement between a police department and a prosecutor's office. 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. Her head spinning, Dianna couldn't imagine what her sweet, gentle Toddthe man who surprised her on Sunday mornings with Spanish omelets and cried when his cats were sickhad done. (He was right; Dateline's decoys are always 18 or older.) "I don't believe he is the man that Dateline says he is," she says. Predator will differ from To Catch a Predator, Hansen said that, We would change the way that we communicate with predators, because there are so many more ways to communicate online than there were when we began. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. "You don't know anything?" Predator, conducted a sting operation in conjunction with local police in Fairfield, Connecticut. 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. Have you come to have views on this? We learned about the online watchdog group, Perverted Justice, and I figured if we could combine their talent posting as decoys with our hidden camera technology, it could be pretty compelling. The communications included video chats, text messages, phone calls, and direct messages on social media platforms. NEW EVIDENCE! He laughs. Not to say that it hasn't happened, it has, but it just hasn't come up in one of our investigations. He didnt show up at the house, the police made the decision to issue a warrant. Date of birth May 5, 1987 Place of birth Salt Lake City, Utah Samantha Cope was the female decoy involved in the Flagler Beach, Florida edition of To Catch A Predator. He battled tabloid stories of an extramarital affair. We would not do it without law enforcement and prosecutors being involved. Plot summary Add synopsis Crime Drama Reality-TV Add content advisory January 30, 2007 (United States) See more company credits at IMDbPro Technical specs 44 minutes Contribute to this page His public defender was optimistic, saying that considering the types of sentences given to Dateline predators, Todd would probably serve a short jail stint. Dianna Strawder had just stepped out of the shower in the early-morning darkness in July 2006 when her phone rang. Click this link for the original source of this article. Privacy Policy. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Plagued by nightmares, Dianna found herself seriously doubting her decision to stay with Todd. For upwards of US$100,000 per episode, the production hired controversial vigilante group Perverted-Justice to assist in the "exposure [and] arrest of men ostensibly interested in having sex with children."Perverted-Justice entered chat rooms and posed as children to lure such men to a . "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. It was devoted to impersonating underage people (generally ages 12 - 15) and detaining male adults who contacted them over the Internet for sexual liaisons. "), Dianna felt she knew something about mistakes and redemption. Even so, Dianna felt that Todd was falling apart. Dumb. "You deserve better than this," he repeatedly told her. We actually got a call from the lawyers at Mike's Hard Lemonade asking us to not use their product anymore, Hansen said. But fans kept asking him to bring back the stings, and last year Hansen mounted a Kickstarter campaign, raising nearly $90,000 for a reboot called Hansen vs. Predator. The segment premiered in September on Crime Watch Daily, a show Hansen hosts that runs on weekdays, syndicated on local channels throughout the country. "Rachel didn't say a word to me for two weeks," she says. Above all was the question of her daughters' safety and well-being; Dianna had custody of her children, and Todd was around the apartment a lot when the girls, ages 11 and 13, were there. Until we deal with this as a society and reduce the demand, were going to have this problem. His arresting officer, Sheriff Mike Jolley, thinks she is deceiving herself: "I've arrested a lot of men like Todd, and I don't believe it's a first time for any of them. 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.. 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. Maybe he was the man she'd fallen in love with after all. Several of the suspects are also accused of sending videos of themselves masturbating. Her interactions with the predators were not very involved as she would invite them in and then quickly announce she was going to the back to change as Chris would come out for the confrontation. Im not judging the guy. Some may recognize me, some think Im the mad dad, some think Im a detective. In the aftermath of the Dateline sting, Dianna Strawder has had to wrestle with some disturbing questions. Every time they walked by a young girl, she glared at him to make sure he wasn't ogling her. When the man arrives, Dateline and the police pounce. It was the roommate of her fianc, Todd West. It's not that I think he was trying to actually have sex with a 14-year-old girl. 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). Dianna stood up, hurled the phone at the window and stalked out of his sight without saying another word. If some retired reporter from the Houston Chronicle with his glasses down his nose wants to take me to task, thats fine. The alleged conversations with the suspects escalated to sexually graphic conversations very quickly, the sheriffs office said. "Thank you," Todd whispered when she arrived. Nonprofit journalism about criminal justice, A nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system, Intimate portraits of people who have been touched by the criminal justice system. But it is, by its very nature, a risky proposition. Every night Dianna and her girls got nasty anonymous phone calls, the mildest of which called Todd a "sicko pervert." This led to a whole series of Dateline "To Catch A Predator" specials and a spin-off, "To Catch A Predator: The Raw Tapes", which shows . His contract was not renewed in 2013, and he went on to host Killer Instinct, a show on Investigation Discovery. 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. Several of the suspects are also accused of sending videos of themselves masturbating. Rachel ran up and gave him an enormous hug. Two, its compelling television. A grand jury issued a harsh indictment against Todd for his actions: criminal attempt to commit child molestation and criminal attempt to commit statutory rape. Even when we stopped shooting new investigations, MSNBC ran the old ones. That they wouldnt have otherwise acted on their fantasies? Jerry Lambe is a journalist at Law&Crime. Todd had been arrested for trying to solicit sex from a decoy disguised as an underage girl. Release Dates This wasnt the first time my office has worked with SOSA to apprehend child predators, and I hope theyll continue to be available to assist with our child predator program in the future, said West. Do people say to you, they should be punished, but not shamed? But with the help of a new Kickstarter campaign, Hansen is hoping to change that and unleash a. And there is the dramatic, signature moment when the visible cameras come out. Her leaving him "is not about Todd being a bad man. In hopes of a light sentence, Todd decided to plead guilty. He would never, ever do anything bad to a child. Well never put our work behind a paywall, and well never put a limit on the number of articles you can read. Is some of the people who could take part in that case, Im. Resulted from a decoy disguised as an underage girl continues below advertisement but I 'll also have new! Safe from online sex Abuse ( SOSA ) alleged predators joint operation between CCSO and the police made decision! 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