• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

To Catch a Predator

dusty

Distinguished Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2005
Messages
4,780
Reaction score
20
I never said they were coerced, I said it is entrapment if they are coerced. (I know my original post said "if they were coerced," but I was referring to the idea of entrapment, not the case of this show specifically)
 

Brian SD

Moderator
Joined
Feb 5, 2004
Messages
9,492
Reaction score
128
Obviously it's not entrapment because the show would not be able to air if what they do on it were illegal. I still call bullshit when I think of these morally superior d-bags sitting around on computers pretending to be little girls to try and lure out some guys who need help and assistance, not to be condescended and humiliated nationally. What they show you on TV is only part of the conversation. Do you ever think that the decoys get some sort of sexual arousal out of pretending to be a little girl and seducing these older men? They generally only quote the suspects, but they rarely quote the decoys. Low-lifes. I'm not defending the guys who get arrested, but that doesn't make the operation itself defensible. Glad I'm not the only one who hates this bullshit show. I'd feel the same way if they were making fake drug deals to get poor addicts out of their houses to get humiliated. Help them from their habits/addictions destroying their lives, if you actually care about them, like it seems they claim to.
 

dusty

Distinguished Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2005
Messages
4,780
Reaction score
20
Originally Posted by Brian SD
Obviously it's not entrapment because the show would not be able to air if what they do on it were illegal.

The entrapment charges are directed at what is not shown on TV -- the initiation of the subject of sex in the Internet conversations.
 

Brian SD

Moderator
Joined
Feb 5, 2004
Messages
9,492
Reaction score
128
Originally Posted by HomerJ
You guys should read the Esquire article I linked earlier.

To me the mingling of law enforcement and entertainmentjournalism is the problem.


That article really disturbed me (I read through the whole thing). It's a shame to think that man killed himself over an erroneous search warrant and charges that he wouldn't have been guilty of in the end because of improper procedures.

I always had a feeling that there was something really dirty going on behind the scenes, but I didn't imagine the producer of the show and Chris Hansen were quite as malicious as they actually are.
 

hi-val

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2008
Messages
418
Reaction score
1
Originally Posted by dusty
Their argument is that the crime has been committed already by soliciting sex from a minor on the Internet. The actual capture is mostly for show I suppose (and the opportunity to pin some additional charges on these guys).
The people they talk to are all over 18. They haven't actually solicited from a minor, just from someone they thought was a minor. I know the law still considers this a crime. Brian SD, the most resonant thing for me was about how the cops went in with their guns drawn, standing in a crossfire. That part most hammered in that the cops were doing this whole thing for entertainment, not for justice.
 

SoCal2NYC

Fashion Hayzus
Joined
Apr 8, 2007
Messages
12,139
Reaction score
10
Originally Posted by Brian SD
Do you ever think that the decoys get some sort of sexual arousal out of pretending to be a little girl and seducing these older men? They generally only quote the suspects, but they rarely quote the decoys. Low-lifes.

I totally think they do....which when it comes down to it is almost as disgusting as what they are trying to catch. They're masking their own perversion with righteousness.
 

celery

Distinguished Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2007
Messages
2,279
Reaction score
373
Give the people what they want! Oh and let them have cake too!


Seriously though, even though everyone would like to think that we have progressed as a society, that's hardly the case.

Everytime another reality TV show comes up, I get the feeling of "Are you not entertained!"

We WANT blood. We want real life conflict. We as a people thrive on that. And although that show in particular may not be your cup of tea, I'm sure there's something that fits your fancy.

Best example is UFC (and similar MMA sports). They are ushering a new era of "gladiatorial style combat". It's really only a matter of time before we truly get to watch deathmatch bloodsports (possibly with deathrow inmates).

Is it disturbing? Sure, but at the same time, what is even more disturbing is that people enjoy it.

The more distant war becomes, meaning that people play a smaller and smaller role in it (and it's televised in a "safe" way as to not offend anyone), the less in touch we are with the brutality of combat.

I believe that people have developed a certain association with television that makes people feel as if what they see on TV isn't really real.
 

mrpologuy

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2006
Messages
764
Reaction score
1
I don't see why so many folks on here defend these perverts.
 

keykoo

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2007
Messages
2,056
Reaction score
443
I don't really have an opinion on whether the show is good or bad, but I saw something yesterday that absolutely INFURIATED me.

One of the guys that was caught ran outside to get away when cops surrounded him and told him to put his hands up. For about two seconds he had this look of utter confusion, like a deer in headlights, and just froze. What did the cops do? They ******* tasered him.
 

A Canuker

Distinguished Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2006
Messages
2,400
Reaction score
569
I've watched the show and I think its a blast to watch these morons drive for hours, bring beer and condoms to some house where they think some teen is waiting for them.

I can't think of how it's wrong to do it to these guys. I have never been on one of those websites, never chatted with someone I "thought" was underage and never drove to said persons house to "chat" some more.

Tough is all I can say. No one in their right mind would do these things unless you were a perv. As for the vet who went there, hire a coat hangers or something. There is no reason, except a twisted mind, anyone would show up at that house.
 

Saucemaster

Sized Down 2
Joined
Mar 9, 2006
Messages
6,510
Reaction score
23
Originally Posted by mrpologuy
I don't see why so many folks on here defend these perverts.

Who do you see doing that? What I keep seeing are people (including myself) mentioning that they find the idea of vicarious-implied-moral-superiority-as-entertainment to be pretty sick and twisted in its own right.
 

retronotmetro

Distinguished Member
Joined
May 5, 2004
Messages
1,586
Reaction score
24
Originally Posted by Brian SD
Obviously it's not entrapment because the show would not be able to air if what they do on it were illegal. I still call bullshit when I think of these morally superior d-bags sitting around on computers pretending to be little girls to try and lure out some guys who need help and assistance, not to be condescended and humiliated nationally. What they show you on TV is only part of the conversation.

Let's not pretend that the targets are totally harmless shut-ins who present no risk to the public and who just need a shoulder to cry on. These are guys who drive long distances to show up (many times with pot or booze and condoms) at what they believe to be the homes of 13-15 y.o girls. Do you think they would all turn around and go home if there really was a willing girl there, or is it more likely that they'd go on with the plan? Do you think these guys would self-report and seek treatment if they were never caught, either in a sting or in the act?

I do agree that these are the types of people who do need help and assistance, but they are also the types of people who won't seek it without some kind of third party assistance--like law enforcement.
 

retronotmetro

Distinguished Member
Joined
May 5, 2004
Messages
1,586
Reaction score
24
Originally Posted by hi-val

The most resonant thing for me was about how the cops went in with their guns drawn, standing in a crossfire. That part most hammered in that the cops were doing this whole thing for entertainment, not for justice.


The fact that those cops do just as poorly in their own takedowns (as written in the article) tells me that they aren't in this for the entertainment at all. They just suck tactically, since they can't even get their **** together to have a nice "law enforcement: srs bzns" moment doing planned arrests on national TV. Which is indicative of the level of training and professionalism of the type of police department that would let itself get jedi-mind-tricked into thinking that they are using NBC's entertainment resources to further their departmental enforcement goals, rather than the other way around.
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 36.7%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 59 39.3%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 15 10.0%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 26 17.3%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 26 17.3%

Forum statistics

Threads
505,149
Messages
10,578,764
Members
223,878
Latest member
anaforli
Top