To Catch a Predator

[Brian SD]

Does anyone else hate this show as much as I do? I feel like the group of people running the scenes there are pulling off some should-be-criminal level entrapment.

I know the guys who get caught are getting their just desserts, but overall, it seems like there's some serious douchebaggery going on to try and trap these guys. They're poor, weak-minded fools, and I have a hard time believing these guys would actually show up at a kid's home, had they not been coerced by some lardy nerd typin leik this2 and saying stuff like "wut wud u do 2 me if i had no cloze on??" 2 try and trap u in2 cumin 2 my houes.

It makes me sad to see this as a form of entertainment. It's a really shady operation.

 

[LabelKing]

These sorts of "reality" shows only highlight the particular kind of decadence that the American masses are in.

There is nothing more sordid and hypocritically comforting than for a family to sit in front of a TV watching some unfortunate wretched person getting enticed by some boyish looking woman and then assaulted by police.

Of course, these sorts of things make the audience feel that Gosh Golly Ned, we aren't like that! Vicarious moral superiority at its most desperate.

 

[mrpologuy]

These guys get what they deserve. Many have contact with children or have committed crimes in the past. If they are willing to come to the house, many are willing to do it i bet. Some even bring beer and condoms with them. Some have children. One was a rabbi. One was caught in stings twice. You can't take the chance and must do whatever it takes to protect children.

 

[globetrotter]

Originally Posted by mrpologuy

These guys get what they deserve. Many have contact with children or have committed crimes in the past. If they are willing to come to the house, many are willing to do it i bet. Some even bring beer and condoms with them. Some have children. One was a rabbi. One was caught in stings twice. You can't take the chance and must do whatever it takes to protect children.

yeh, I have never seen the show, but I have no sympathy

 

[Quirk]

These guys ought to be caught, but there is something unseemly about making a TV show out of it.

 

[Manny Calavera]

Originally Posted by Quirk

These guys ought to be caught, but there is something unseemly about making a TV show out of it.

Well, whether they would have ever put themselves in that situation at all is questionable. It seems the ratio of repeat offenders is something like 20:1 and you could definitely make a case that this is outright entrapment.

It's a very sticky situation. Some of these guys are acting on a fleeting desire while others suffer from a taboo sexual perversion. These people need help. Humiliating them and ruining their lives on national television, and people deriving sick satisfaction from that, is not "help".

 

[Thomas]

Originally Posted by Quirk

These guys ought to be caught, but there is something unseemly about making a TV show out of it.

My sentiments exactly.

 

[awcollin]

Originally Posted by Quirk

These guys ought to be caught, but there is something unseemly about making a TV show out of it.

+1. And the SWAT team takedowns of these guys on the way out is amazingly high on the Unintentional Comedy Meter.

 

[Get Smart]

is this back on the air? I love the "catch a predator" episodes. It does seem like guys could get out of this with a decent lawyer

couldnt you argue that you're there to bang *that* (the decoy) chick? and she's always over 18 so no crime there. I'm surprised no one thought it was a gangbang and Chris Hansen was another guy there to make the girl airtight.

 

[chorse123]

Now they're doing "to catch a baby broker." Doesn't have quite the ad-selling ring to it. It's fine to catch these guys, although it does seem like they could cross the entrapment line, but the t.v. element is pretty awful.

 

[dusty]

Whether or not it's entrapment is debatable, but it absolutely should not be used for entertainment.

 

[VMan]

It's really not about justice, it's about making a buck through the perverse satisfaction of the audience.

 

[retronotmetro]

Originally Posted by Get Smart

couldnt you argue that you're there to bang *that* (the decoy) chick? and she's always over 18 so no crime there.

As one of my law professors used to say, "absolutely, yes you can argue that, but you still lose." What you are suggesting is a "factual impossibility defense," which never works.

To beat one of these types of cases at trial you'd pretty much have to sell the jury (well, one juror) on a defense that you really were just kidding around and did not intend to do anything. this would include explaining away every chat transcript the prosecution threw out in front of the jury. There are other defenses that might work depending on the facts, but most of these guys are just plain screwed.

Also, a lot of these guys get busted for sending the decoy pictures of their dicks, which is both a separate crime and a fact that pretty much wipes out the "just kidding" defense.

 

[mrpologuy]

All these men are dangers to the community and need to be put in jail.

 

[Saucemaster]

Originally Posted by Quirk

These guys ought to be caught, but there is something unseemly about making a TV show out of it.

Agreed. I don't have any problem with these guys getting caught, and to be honest I'm not even particularly worried about whether or not it's entrapment. But putting it on the air as entertainment is twisted.