[QueenAngie]

On TV tonight, this is a show that I have not really viewed before.

"To Catch a Predator" shows men on-line that are live chatting
with pre-teen and teenaged girls (12 - 14 yos)
and actually go to the teenager's home to 'meet up.'

Oh My Goodness!

Cannot believe how bold and agressive that these adult males
are with young girls......girls that are too young to get consent.

One male brought porn, another brought pot,
another a camera to take photos, and others brought condoms.

It is all on videotape and the preditor males are arrested.
One had $50,000 bond set.

This is one more example of how careful we have to be on the net
with children and teenagers,
particularly on live chatrooms.

What are your thoughts?

[MissyChrissy]

I've watched a bunch of these episodes. What always surprises me is that the show has been out for over a year now, yet they still have no shortage of men looking for young boys & girls to have sex with.

I've had my girls watch the show with me, to show them what's really out there. Sometimes, it takes more than mom & dad telling the story for it to be totally believable.

AND-this show is proof positive of why it is NOT a good idea to allow you kids to talk on the internet without supervision. Oprah had a show once where a former "sex slave" adolescent boy talked about how he got into the whole thing. It started out by innocently chatting with someone he thought was another kid his age in another state.

To Catch A Predator makes me think many things-mostly that no one can be trusted. ER doctors and lawyers have be caught. It's not only unemployed, uneducated, smelly people that hang out at the local bar. They're intelligent, middle and upper class. They're anyone.

[mcmama]

I've seen a number of these, and they get pretty dramatic. There was one with a prosecutor in I think Texas, who killed himself when they came to his house. These guys believe the lies they tell themselves, and don't think they are going to be caught. $50,000 is pretty standard bail for them.

Some of the younger ones look to me like guys who got caught up in internet porn and sex, and haven't grown up enough themselves to know the difference between fantasy and reality with real consequences. The whole setup - lonely teen home alone, come on over - is like a scenario from a really cheap porn movie.

You have to wonder what is going on when sending explicit photos over the net to people who identify themselves as 13-15 years old apparently is common among these people. Why they would think this is hot is beyond me.

[MissyChrissy]

Originally Posted by mcmama

I've seen a number of these, and they get pretty dramatic. There was one with a prosecutor in I think Texas, who killed himself when they came to his house. These guys believe the lies they tell themselves, and don't think they are going to be caught. $50,000 is pretty standard bail for them.

There's a big lawsuit over this because the difference was that the camera crew, including the host, went to his home and apparently he shot himself while they were all milling around outside.

Every other scenario, the would be perpetrator went to the house looking for the kid, not the news cameras going to their home. There's speculation that his family may win this too...there is such a thing as innocent until proven guilty, and while I don't want to defend someone who may have been a child molester, I didn't like hearing the crew went to his house.

I don't know all the details though...so maybe there was some justification in it. My fear-and the family's position-is that he talked online inappropriately, but never followed up with the "kid." Because he was a prosecutor (how'd they find out???) the show went to his home for dramatic reasons and ratings.

[mcmama]

I think it was because Texas law allows for the arrest even if the suspect does not show up. The online solicitation is enough. NBC went along to film the arrest.

I don't question the arrest, but I do question having the media come along.