Global InformationTo Catch a Predator information
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2016) |
| To Catch a Predator | |
|---|---|
 Title card from the DatelineNetCrime era | |
| Presented by | Chris Hansen |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Producer | David Corvo[1] |
| Running time | 44 mins |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | November 11, 2004 – December 28, 2007 |
| Related | |
| Crime Watch Daily | |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
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.[2]
The series premiered in November 2004. 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.[3]
The show was cancelled in 2008,[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 13-year-old boy.[6][7] Conradt fatally shot himself as police and an NBC camera crew entered his home,[8] an act that was captured by the filming crew.[9] His estate sued Dateline for US$105 million,[10][11] then settled out of court.[12] Hansen stated that the show ended because it had simply run its course,[13] though he later ran a Kickstarter campaign to relaunch the series,[14] and he searched for new broadcast venues for it.[15] In 2016, a spiritual successor program named Hansen vs. Predator became a recurring segment on Crime Watch Daily, a syndicated television news magazine hosted by Hansen.[16]
Reruns of the Dateline segments are occasionally broadcast on MSNBC.[6] NBC affiliates WTMJ in Milwaukee, KSHB in Kansas City, and WBRE in Wilkes-Barre have also produced local versions of To Catch a Predator. Various spin-offs have aired in the same format, including To Catch a Con Man, To Catch an ID Thief, To Catch a Car Thief, and To Catch an i-Jacker, which featured iPod thieves. To Catch a Predator is also aired on FX and Crime & Investigation in the United Kingdom, the Crime & Investigation Network in Australia, and New Zealand and Fox Crime in Portugal.
- ^ ""To Catch a Predator" is propping up NBC's Dateline, but at what cost?". Columbia Journalism Review. February 2007.
- ^ Hansen, Chris (January 30, 2006). "Predators still showing up". NBC Newslanguage=en-US. Archived from the original on December 29, 2014. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
- ^ Manavis, Sarah (August 31, 2018). "Catch a Child Predator: YouTube's latest morally dubious trend". New Statesman. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
- ^ Fieldstadt, Elisha (January 16, 2019). "'To Catch a Predator' host Chris Hansen arrested over $13,000 in bounced checks". NBC News. Archived from the original on January 17, 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
- ^ "Texas prosecutor kills himself after sex sting". Associated Press. November 6, 2006. Archived from the original on March 3, 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2006.
- ^ a b Rendall, Steve (April 2009). "The Online Predator Scare". FAIR. Archived from the original on January 4, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
- ^ Gold, Matea (June 24, 2008). "NBC resolves lawsuit over 'To Catch a Predator' suicide". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 26, 2008. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
- ^ Stelter, Brian (June 26, 2008). "NBC Settles With Family That Blamed a TV Investigation for a Man's Suicide". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 14, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
- ^ Eaton, Tim (November 6, 2006). "Prosecutor Kills Himself in Texas Raid Over Child Sex". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 9, 2008. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
- ^ Fagen, Cynthia R. (July 18, 2007). "'Dateline' sued in sex-sting suicide". New York Post. Archived from the original on August 13, 2007. Retrieved July 18, 2007.
- ^ Honan, Edith (July 24, 2007). "NBC sued for $105 million over man's death". Reuters. Archived from the original on September 10, 2007. Retrieved July 24, 2007.
- ^ Stelter, Brian (June 26, 2008). "NBC Settles With Family of Man Who Killed Himself". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
- ^ Buckland, Jason (February 19, 2015). "'Catch a Predator' Host Opens Up on Return to Television". Time. Archived from the original on December 22, 2018. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
- ^ Nguyen, Tina (April 14, 2015). "Chris Hansen Launches Kickstarter Campaign to Catch Some Predators". Mediaite. Archived from the original on April 15, 2015. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
- ^ Woodman, Spencer (October 19, 2015). "Chris Hansen Is Back to Catching Predators". The New Republic. Archived from the original on April 17, 2016. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
- ^ Battaglio, Stephen (August 22, 2016). "Chris Hansen will be catching predators on 'Crime Watch Daily'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 22, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2016.