To Catch a Predator is an American reality television series in the television news magazine program Dateline NBC featuring confrontations of host Chris Hansen , partly filmed with a hidden camera , with adult men arriving at a sting house to have sex with a minor and typically being arrested as a result. The minors are adults impersonating underage persons generally ages 12 or 13 in online chats. The series premiered in November It followed twelve undercover sting operations as they were conducted across the United States with the watchdog group Perverted-Justice.
Following the third investigation, law enforcement and other officials became involved, leading to the arrests of most individuals caught. Upon its airing, the series received mixed reactions for its sordid tone, and the ethical and legal concerns raised over the nature of the sting operations it depicted, in particular potential violations of entrapment laws.
The show was cancelled in , [ 4 ] following the suicide of Rockwall County, Texas assistant district attorney Bill Conradt , as police attempted to serve him with a search warrant [ 5 ] after he had been caught talking to and exchanging pictures with a Perverted-Justice volunteer posing as a year-old boy. Predator became a recurring segment on Crime Watch Daily , a syndicated television news magazine hosted by Hansen.
The show's host Chris Hansen clarified in an interview with NPR News that the subjects confronted on the show should be labelled properly as potential sexual predators and not as pedophiles. Hansen stated, "Pedophiles have a very specific definition, people who are interested in prepubescent sex.
The first two investigations did not include law enforcement officers on site, and individuals caught in the sting were allowed to leave voluntarily, though Dateline provided all video and transcripts to law enforcement and suspects were eventually arrested.
