To Catch a Predator

In the last four years, Dateline NBC has been stationing a crew in towns such as Fairfax, Virginia, Fort Myers, Florida, and Greenville, Ohio; just to name a few; to set up an online decoy awaiting for predators to initiate a chat. Volunteers, who are of age, build a profile of themselves to seem underage and enter chat rooms where they wait for people who are looking to engage in intercourse with a minor to make a move.

The chats are always logged and at times can turn into arranging appointments for sex. This is where an undercover house comes in. The person who wants to meet for sex shows up at the undercover house where the decoy greets him briefly, then Chris Hansen, an NBC correspondent walks into the room while the decoy walks out.

Chris Hansen then asks the guest questions about why he is there and points out the logged conversation as well as introducing himself and stating the current situation the guest got himself/herself into. As the guest is told he is free to leave, police are there to make the arrest.

Now that you know the gist of the show, you can imagine the hype going on of how many think this is unfair and entrapment. Honestly if you think about it, the offenders are the ones who log onto their computer, initiate sexual conversations with a supposed minor, and go as far as showing up for the meeting to engage in this sexual act with the minor. Many people that have shown up are prepared with condoms in pocket. Some show up with alcohol, and some show up already naked.

Personally I do not believe this to be entrapment. Everyone is an individual that makes their own choices. This television show helps to assist parents on what to look out for, as well as make us known of the potential predators that are out there.

An incident in Texas occurred where a North Texas town prosecutor killed himself because police tried to arrest him on charges of soliciting sex over the Internet from a person he thought was a thirteen year old boy. The prosecutor engaged in an online conversation in a sexual nature with one of the 'To Catch A Predator' decoys. The prosecutor never showed up for a meeting to carry out the act, but police pursued to arrest him in this matter. Now, the sister of the prosecutor that committed suicide is suing NBC with a $100 million law suit.

This whole matter doesn't make any sense. The man knew he was in the wrong when the person he was talking to online stated that he was a thirteen year old boy and yet he still continued to converse in a sexual manner. There was no need for him to go as far as suicide. Yes, his life would have been changed completely due to his own mistake; however he would have learned from the mistake and taken a different path in life.

Individuals who are convicted on charges involving sex with a minor may face a number of penalties, which are determined by the precise nature and extent of the crime. He could have gotten a prison sentence of up to twenty years, more then likely lost his right or privilege to be a prosecutor, might have just received a probation if it was his first offense, he would have to register as a sex offender, and or be subject to a fine.

Taking a step back and looking at the way our judicial system acts, if this man had not committed suicide, I can almost guess that he would have received a large fine and be put on probation because of his rank with the state as a prosecutor.

There is no reason to take his choice of outcome for this situation out on NBC. NBC didn't do anything wrong, they just happened to be there at the time when this man was online and interested in starting a sexual chat with an underage boy. And he continued even though he knew it was wrong.

The mayor of the town had told the newspapers that he didn't want his town to be used again as a trap for child predators. I think this is the wrong way to look at the situation. This isn't a trap. I would rather have a so called "sex sting" operation set up in my town to attract the child predators and arrest them, then to have them roaming out in the open for the children of this town to be victims.

This is a television show that should continue to air, despite the lawsuits, common sense should tell us that removing predators off the streets and making the citizens aware of who they are is a good thing, not something that we should avoid.