Dateline NBC Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===''To Catch a Predator''=== {{Main|To Catch a Predator}} ''To Catch a Predator'' was a special series of reports, hosted by [[Chris Hansen]], featuring [[hidden camera]] [[sting operation]]s that bust potential [[sex offender]]s who carry out [[online chat]]s with children with the intent of luring them to meet in person and engage in illegal sexual activity. The stings are conducted in partnership with [[Perverted-Justice]], and begin for each potential offender with recordings of online chats of him with a "[[decoy]]" employed with the organization, posing as minor, generally between the ages of 12 and 15.<ref>Although the [[age of consent]] in many U.S. states is 16, this minimum age set by some states at 17 or 18.</ref> If the potential offender and the decoy make an appointment, this is at the pretended home of the pretended minor, which is in fact a house prepared for the television show, with police hiding outside for the subsequent arrest of the offender outside the house. During the filming of each episode, men who attempt to meet the minor in person are filmed as they enter inside the "sting" house. Shortly after the target is inside, often after talking to the Perverted-Justice decoy (who either briefly meets with the men or converses with them from another room), Hansen would confront each suspect and ask them about their online conversations (which were transcribed and printed) with the decoy. After the confrontation, the men are taken into custody by local police. Some men were arrested even if they never entered the home in question.<ref>{{cite news|title=Prosecutor Kills Himself in Texas Raid Over Child Sex|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/us/07pedophile.html?ex=1320555600&en=9a849fc4db0d28ce&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss|author=Tim Eaton|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 7, 2006|access-date=February 9, 2008|archive-date=March 9, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309042401/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/us/07pedophile.html?ex=1320555600&en=9a849fc4db0d28ce&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss|url-status=live}}</ref> The segment was cancelled in early 2008 in part due to criticism of the show as well as legal issues. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page