This led to a whole series of Dateline "To Catch A Predator" specials and a spin-off, "To Catch A Predator: The Raw Tapes", which shows . Not to say that it hasn't happened, it has, but it just hasn't come up in one of our investigations. and our Chris talks with Casey Mauro, who was the decoy actress in the Dateline NBC To Catch A Predator investigation episodes in New Jersey and Kentucky. A life where Todd could meet her daughters only in public and only if at least six unrelated adults were present? In October of that year, the project, dubbed Hansen vs. Its not going away. If I wasnt there, somebody would have been raped that night. Several of the suspects are also accused of sending videos of themselves masturbating. Decoy Highlights From To Catch a Predator - Part 1 (TCAP Compilation) 8,373 views Aug 7, 2022 Links: .more .more 178 Dislike Share Save Nathan Tagalong 9.33K subscribers 56 My excuse to. Remember that the majority of the interaction is on hidden camera. "Rachel didn't say a word to me for two weeks," she says. Dianna and Todd refused to watch it, but in living rooms across the country, 8.7 million viewers heard a voice-over say: "We've hired a young-looking 19-year-old named Amanda to play the part of an underage girl home alone. Five men in Oklahoma have been arrested after law enforcement authorities conducted a four-day sting to catch child sex predators. Did the 2006 suicide lead to questions about whether you went too far? To Catch a Predator . We dont go above 14 for the victims age, just so it is a clear case. Her thoughts turned to Dateline; their lives would change dramatically when the episode aired in a few months. . I dont think there is any way he could have known it was Chris Hansen and Dateline outside. It was devoted to impersonating underage people (generally ages 12 - 15) and detaining male adults who contacted them over the Internet for sexual liaisons. A month later Dianna finally allowed Todd to see her daughters. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and New York Law School and previously worked in financial securities compliance and Civil Rights employment law. We do a vast amount of research on these men: does he have a concealed weapons permit? 2023 Cond Nast. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu. A blurred image pops up on the screen: It's a shot of Todd's penis, which he sent the girl via webcam. And there is the dramatic, signature moment when the visible cameras come out. He went to visit a girl your age for an indecent purpose. He battled tabloid stories of an extramarital affair. Todd can't live with you." "I love the guy like a brother," he said. Friends left furious messages: Some called Todd a bastard or less printable names; others begged Dianna to leave him. I think it would be fascinating. He also noted that he has never been contacted by any of the men following filming. Until a few days earlier, she'd trusted Todd more than anyone else in the world. It was the roommate of her fianc, Todd West. A few years earlier she'd gotten hooked on crystal meth. He said Todd had nodded his head in agreement. He didnt show up at the house, the police made the decision to issue a warrant. He looked cowed and broken. "He called a few days later, and we were pretty much together after that." Have I done my daughters irreparable harm? A rabbi who was caught in one of our stings did his time and got out. So the guys dont see it. According to a news release from the Canadian County Sheriffs Office (CCSO), the five suspects taken into custody include Trace Turkelson, 22, of Elgin; Cody Ewing, 27, of Yukon; Tracy Fisher, 41, of Tulsa; William Copeland IV, 29, of Calhan, CO; and Otha Smith III, 37, of Linden, Texas. She had to ask herself: Who is this man I said I'd marry? And we investigate equally.. Five men in Oklahoma have been arrested after law enforcement authorities conducted a four-day sting to catch child sex predators. Samantha Cote It included using a decoy house the suspects allegedly believed was the home of girls ages 14 and 15. Its the nature of the Internet the anonymity, the addictive quality, the 24/7 access. Usage Public Domain Mark 1.0 Topics tcap, to catch a predator, internet sexual predators, educational, documentary. Technical Specs, See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro, field producer / executive producer / associate producer (12 episodes, 2004-2007), field producer / associate producer (9 episodes, 2006-2007), producer / additional producer (7 episodes, 2005-2006), senior investigative producer (7 episodes, 2006-2007), assistant producer / associate producer (6 episodes, 2005-2006), executive producer (6 episodes, 2006-2007), field producer / producer (4 episodes, 2005-2007), assistant producer (4 episodes, 2006-2007), assistant producer (2 episodes, 2005-2006), associate producer (2 episodes, 2005-2006), specialty camera / camera operator (12 episodes, 2005-2007), camera operator / specialty camera (11 episodes, 2005-2007), camera operator / specialty camera (9 episodes, 2006-2007), specialty camera / camera operator (7 episodes, 2005-2007), specialty camera / camera operator (7 episodes, 2006-2007), additional camera / camera operator (4 episodes, 2005-2007), camera operator / specialty camera (4 episodes, 2006), additional camera / camera operator (3 episodes, 2006), camera operator / additional camera (3 episodes, 2006), additional camera / camera operator (2 episodes, 2006). "Do you have any special ideas for tonight or anything?" It was devoted to impersonating underage people (generally ages 12 - 15) and detaining male adults who contacted them over Read allTo Catch a Predator is an American reality television series that features hidden camera investigations by the television news magazine program Dateline NBC. ", Months later Dianna and her daughters met with Bob Wadkins, Todd's public defender, to discuss Todd's probation restrictions in detail. ), When asked about the most surprising reaction he ever received from one of his predator encounters, Hansen admitted that it was recognition. She adds, "I abandoned my kids once when I was addicted to drugs, but I've made a promise to myself never to do that again. On the drive home, Dianna sobbed. At that time, Hansen reported that he was commencing negotiations with various potential broadcast networks in an effort to find a media platform on which to air the footage that was shot during the Fairfield operation. | And we also have means to find out more about these people before they actually show up. Plot summary Add synopsis Crime Drama Reality-TV Add content advisory January 30, 2007 (United States) See more company credits at IMDbPro Technical specs 44 minutes Contribute to this page Now she wasn't sure what to do. Three, it takes you into a world you wouldnt normally see. But with the help of a new Kickstarter campaign, Hansen is hoping to change that and unleash a new seriesthe forebodingly titled Hansen vs. Predatoron the world. Two hours into their trip, near the exit for the decoy house Todd had visited, she finally exploded. Some may recognize me, some think Im the mad dad, some think Im a detective. They were going to go to school with that on their shoulders every day," Dianna recalls. We consult the prosecutors. After Emily left, Amanda comes in and Del immediately makes an excuse on having her hair look better and begins playing with her hair. Nonprofit journalism about criminal justice, A nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system, Intimate portraits of people who have been touched by the criminal justice system. So, whats he going to do when hes a cop, when he has ultimate power over somebody? But eventually the girls forgave Dianna, though they remain angry at Todd's sentence and upset about the way that Dateline tore apart their lives. There was a long gap in which you didnt do these stings, but many encouraged you to return to them. And experts in the field say when it comes to female predators, you're more likely to see the teacher/student scenario, as opposed to someone meeting anonymously online. Trace Turkelson, William Copeland IV, Cody Ewing, Tracy Fisher, and Otha Smith III (Canadian County Sheriffs Office). The communications included video chats, text messages, phone calls, and direct messages on social media platforms. the decoy asks. The show didn't ultimately cave to criticism about "entrapment." By going to the location of their own volition to try and sleep with someone they believed to be a minor, the perps on To Catch a Predator were freely attempting to engage in illegal activity on their own. It was devoted to impersonating To Catch a Predator is an American reality television series that features hidden camera investigations by the television news magazine program Dateline NBC. What did you learn about the fanbase? Scuba Certification; Private Scuba Lessons; Scuba Refresher for Certified Divers; Try Scuba Diving; Enriched Air Diver (Nitrox) Of course, you dont want anybody to hurt themselves. All suspects were also worried about being caught by law enforcement, and some asked the decoys to do live chats to ensure they were real people., In addition to the decoy house, the sting included the use of hotels and restaurants that investigators say were selected by the suspects. Rachel called Todd, exulting, "Mom says she'll still marry you. His contract was not renewed in 2013, and he went on to host Killer Instinct, a show on Investigation Discovery. Can we count on your support today? That night when she told her girls, they were ecstatic. The conversations with the predators were extremely disturbing, including fetish demands, using names such as Daddy, graphic sexual acts they planned on doing to the children, and one predator talking about breeding with the female child, officials said. You shouldnt be going after kids online, and no matter how many we do, they will be out there. Todd knew he'd made a stupid mistake, he said, but it wasn't anything twisted. What he did know was that police officers were knocking on his door, and he had child pornography on his computer. Dumb. "Oh, honey," the woman said, "I am so sorry.". NEW EVIDENCE! Donations from readers like you are essential to sustaining this work. When they drove to the movies one evening, he pulled over to cry. If some retired reporter from the Houston Chronicle with his glasses down his nose wants to take me to task, thats fine. The mark would arrive at a camera-rigged decoy house, where Hansen would emerge with his signature line: Why dont you have a seat? After a brief, squirmy interview, police would swoop in for an arrest. Well never put our work behind a paywall, and well never put a limit on the number of articles you can read. But she didn't have time to wonder; she had to get to her job as a medical technician at Loganville Dialysis Center, outside Atlanta, where she would spend the day tending to dialysis patients, hooking them up to the whooshing machines that kept them alive. "He knew that Todd had acted like an idiot," says Dianna. "I knew what a sex offender looked like. Chris Hansen hosts the "To Catch a Predator" segment on "Dateline NBC" in this 2006 photo. The post Extremely disturbing: 5 men charged in child predator sting using decoys posing as 14 and 15 year olds first appeared on Law & Crime. she asked. The organization also said, "That's what [predators] do, they blame everyone but themselves. Above all was the question of her daughters' safety and well-being; Dianna had custody of her children, and Todd was around the apartment a lot when the girls, ages 11 and 13, were there. When we began, we used chatrooms on AOL and Yahoo! Extremely disturbing: 5 men charged in child predator sting using decoys posing as 14 and 15 year olds. Three months later there was an additional blow. He knew hed face 10 years in prison for each image. Those few friends who hadn't pulled away from her seemed to scrutinize her too closely. A few days after Todd's arrest, Todd's roommate and Dianna made the drive to the Harris County jail. So, it wasn't really entrapment. Date of birth "Thank you," Todd whispered when she arrived. "You don't know anything?" The male and female decoys that appeared in the various stings. He chatted with the decoy named mystyk_roses for a week.". When you decided to reboot the stings, were there plans for how to do things differently given what happened? The Addams Family was out. "I've done some rotten things. Earlier versions of To Catch a Predator included the suspect entering the house, getting a quick talking-to by Chris Hansen, and the suspect getting arrested. As they traveled, the roommate said that a few weeks earlier he and Todd had watched an episode of Dateline: To Catch a Predator. ", But in other ways, life remained eerily uneventful. In his 30-plus-year career as an investigative journalist, Chris Hansen has had occasion to come into contact with all sorts of criminal types. "As crazy as it sounds, our relationship felt stronger than ever," says Dianna. What the woman told her next made Dianna's hands and knees tremble so hard she had to pull over to the side of the road. As Jessica and Rachel sat quietly in the back of the car, it dawned on Dianna how much Todd's arrest would affect them. Article continues below advertisement [1] It is safe to say of all the decoys that branched out into acting after the show that Cope has found the most success. The suspects are accused of sending nude photos to the decoys and describing sex acts the arrestees desired to perform with the purported girls. Many in the medical community argue that people with sexual proclivities toward youth have a disorder. And that drama, I think, is part of what draws people to watch this. He worked for a cable company, so he was in people's houses every day. They played the roles and communicated with the alleged predators. Sokol has pleaded not guilty to second-degree attempted sexual assault and is awaiting trial. Predator, conducted a sting operation in conjunction with local police in Fairfield, Connecticut. Is there a fear that amping things up with television cameras will worsen the issues depression, self-harm? The reality is he did his time. In a Dateline hidden camera investigation, correspondent Chris Hansen catches some of these men in the act. Her leaving him "is not about Todd being a bad man. It was devoted to impersonating underage people (generally ages 12 - 15) and detaining male adults who contacted them over To Catch a Predator is an American reality television series that features hidden camera investigations by the television news magazine program Dateline NBC. A member of SAG, Samantha found a modicum of success as a television actress and has been featured in series such as HBO's "Insecure", Private, "NCIS:Los Angeles, and many more. The roommate had commented, "I can't believe the freaking idiots who do this kind of thing." [deleted] 3 yr. ago. According to the sheriffs office, Otha Smith traveled the farthest of the five suspects, driving about five hours to meet one of the decoy actresses at a hotel. We learned about the online watchdog group, Perverted Justice, and I figured if we could combine their talent posting as decoys with our hidden camera technology, it could be pretty compelling. With his glasses down his nose wants to take me to task thats. 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