Wednesday, June 29, 2011

To Catch a Predator Catcher

Although I watched "To Catch a Predator" on "Dateline NBC" with the same fascination that most people did -- "I'll be right out, I spilled some milk on my sweater; have a cookie while I change!" -- I've long had a fundamental problem with the show, which I always felt lured (often weak) people into doing something they likely would not have otherwise, but then didn't even lure them into committing an actual crime -- which is what entrapment really means. There is NO VICTIM when a so-called pervert chats about sex with a 51-year-old undercover cop. There isn't even a victim when a so-called pervert drives to the (fake) house of a 51-year-old undercover cop. The truth is, at this point, who hasn't said or done things online that took on an element of fantasy? Do we even REALLY think the hot OF-AGE guy we're chatting with online -- who always happens to be a closeted fireman -- is real much less the hot-to-trot high school sophomore who is dying to have sex with an older guy who says he's got wine coolers? EVERYTHING online is fake until proven otherwise. I understand that legislators thought they were doing something good by passing tough laws against online predators -- parents understandably freaked out when they realized the scary Internet allowed strangers, including sickos who look at child pornography, to "come into" their homes and mess with their children -- but did you know that these reactionary laws create penalties for crimes like this that are often, pardon the pun, far stiffer than those for people who ACTUALLY MOLEST CHILDREN? (It's really messed up.) I'd suggest we spend more time prosecuting people who are actually harming people -- and keeping tabs on high-risk offenders once they're out of jail -- instead of engaging in questionably legal stunts like this.

So it gives me a schadenfreude stiffy to see that smug host Chris Hansen -- you know, the married one with two sons -- was caught in a hidden-camera sting by the National Enquirer doing something (probably) illegal -- having an adulterous affair with a woman 20 years his junior! (I hope someone walked up to him with a piece of paper folded in their hand as the cameras rolled and said, "Sit down. So what did you think was going to happen here today?")


Read all the humiliating details HERE. I sure hope Chris doesn't take his life now that his misdeeds have been exposed for all to see. I wouldn't wish this on anyone -- except someone who makes a living doing it to others.

Hansen, 51, has allegedly been having an affair with Kristyn Caddell, a 30-year-old Florida TV reporter, for the last four months

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awesome comments; too bad they are ten years too late.

Anonymous said...

Yes, that was a horrible show and Hansen is an awful person who traumatized a lot of innocent people. As a reminder, MSNBC was owned by GE at the time. GE of course is a huge criminal enterprise--war promoter and profiteer, serial polluter, financial terrorist.

UP said...

Brilliant commentary. Couldnt agree more.

Topaz said...

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. (But actually, he looks pretty awesome for 51.)

maxx said...

Check out this logic about abusers vs. watchers:


"Those people are totally despicable, but they're more honest than you are," the judge said.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/stash_prep_school_teacher_gets_years_4ZiBv7wjGrF78B7Fu82JBO#ixzz1QnkCOQhL


http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/stash_prep_school_teacher_gets_years_4ZiBv7wjGrF78B7Fu82JBO