This is an accepted version of this page 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.

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.

[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.

[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.

[17] In its four years of production, it grew to become the most popular segment on Dateline, its cultural status underlined by satirical references in parodies and other comedies, such as The Simpsons, 30 Rock, and Conan O'Brien's opening sketch at the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2006.

Arrests are sometimes made in a dramatic fashion by multiple officers who, with Tasers drawn, ambush the suspect and command him to lie face-down on the ground before being handcuffed.

[22] One of the men arrested in the series' 2004 investigation, Ryan Hogan, was a New York City firefighter, assigned to Engine Company 237 in Brooklyn, who used a firehouse computer while on duty in order to lure a Perverted-Justice agent posing as a teenage girl to have sex with him.

[23] An hour-long special that premiered in November 2005 depicted an operation in Herndon, Virginia, in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and saw 19 men arrive over three days.

Among them included a Sunday school teacher, Brian Emmons, a teen mental health counselor; Peter Ernandez, a youth counselor and medical student who was studying to be a pediatrician, who stripped naked; Marvin Lakhan, Fredi Fernandez, a security guard at the Miami National airport, as well Clifford Wallach, a man who brought his son to the house.

[32] Shortly after the first half of this investigation aired, the Georgia Governor's office announced a new Child Safety Initiative which would triple the number of special agents in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation dedicated to catching Internet predators and double the number of forensic computer specialists dedicated to helping prosecute computer crimes.

These additional suspects, who conducted chats but did not arrive at the undercover house, included Kaufman County assistant district attorney Bill Conradt, who shot and killed himself on November 5, 2006, at his home when 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.

He committed suicide as police and an NBC camera crew entered his home,[8] capturing the scene when the fatal shot was fired.

[12] The sting prompted protests from local residents, who were opposed to law enforcement officials purposely attracting sexual predators to their neighborhood.

Prior to the settlement of Patricia Conradt's lawsuit against NBC Universal Inc, portions from the February 20, 2007 broadcast of To Catch a Predator were intended to be introduced in civil court.

[42] On June 1, 2007, the Collin County district attorney's office declined to prosecute any of the 23 cases brought against those arrested on this installment of the show, citing insufficient evidence.

[43] District Attorney John Roach explained that in 16 of the cases, he had no jurisdiction because the decoys and suspects who participated in the online chats were not in that county when they did so,[44] a point seconded by Assistant DA Doris in a 2009 Esquire article.

NBC News president Steve Capus told USA Today, "I chalk this up to the usual network silly competitiveness, in a territory of a much more serious handling.

In January 2008, federal judge Denny Chin dismissed most of Patricia Conradt's claims, but found that she had a reasonable chance of proving that NBC had pressed police into engaging in unreasonable and unnecessary tactics solely for entertainment value, thus creating "a substantial risk of suicide or other harm."

[56] Among the more prominent critics of the series has been Brian Montopoli of the CBS News Public Eye blog[57] and formerly of the Columbia Journalism Review.

Brooker also mentioned the selection process for the actress as being disturbing by adding "Presumably someone at To Catch a Predator HQ sat down with a bunch of audition tapes and spooled through it, trying to find a sexy 18-year-old who could pass for 13.

Specifically, she said that Perverted-Justice failed to keep accurate, verifiable records of its online interactions with suspects, which had been cited by some of the arrested men's attorneys who argued they were victims of entrapment.

Perverted-Justice takes the position that it has precautions in place to avoid entrapment issues, claiming that volunteers never initiate contact with the target or instigate lewd conversations or talks of sexual meetings.

Phillips defended the tactic as enticement as opposed to entrapment, stating that, "Once the hook is baited, the fish jump and run with it like you wouldn't believe.

The conviction was affirmed on appeal, which noted the trial court's observation that the defendant initiated the contact with a Perverted-Justice agent that he had thought was a 12-year-old girl.

[67] In 2011, a case against a man who had appeared on the show was dismissed because the trial court judge did not find proof of a specific intent to commit the crime.

[68] In June 2007, Perverted-Justice was criticized following a sting operation in Collin County, Texas after charges against 23 suspected online sex predators were dropped.

"[73] Investigative journalist Byron Harris explained, "John Roach knew the money issue would come up in court as part of the required disclosure of benefits received by possible witnesses.

"[74] The series inspired a trend of YouTube prankster videos produced by individuals emulating To Catch a Predator as a form of social justice activism, without police involvement or legal qualifications.