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NBC stung by criticism of sex-predator cases
Steve Thompson Dallas Morning News ^

Posted on 08/14/2007 4:27:34 AM PDT by Dudoight

The show was an instant success. It lured would-be child-sex predators to a public shaming, delivered by a handsome host. Ratings, awards and even praise from members of Congress followed. But now Dateline NBC's "To Catch a Predator" series is taking heat. And so is the police chief of the Collin County town that hosted it eight months ago. The troubles stem from the show's visit to Murphy, where more than 20 people were arrested but escaped prosecution because of evidence problems. Also a former district attorney ensnared in the sting shot himself.

(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption
KEYWORDS: nbcnews; pedophiles; perverts; sexcrimes; sexualpredators
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To: gridlock; Liz
"Unless you have some information the rest of us don't, I do not think that is what happened."

So what happened?

281 posted on 08/14/2007 12:54:45 PM PDT by Sam's Army
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To: gridlock

Technically, they did not “walk”. They got busted. They just didn’t serve time.


282 posted on 08/14/2007 12:58:03 PM PDT by AppyPappy (If you aren't part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)
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To: djf

NBC are playing with fire by trying to make $$ and get ratings by trapping pedophiles. No one comes out of this looking good, as far as I am concerned. Imagine the reaction if some nut job comes to the party heavily armed - and blows away Chris Hanson or his staff, on film.


283 posted on 08/14/2007 1:02:47 PM PDT by PGR88
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To: new cruelty
Apparently smarter than the magistrate who signed the search and arrest warrants

It might be interesting to find out why he did that. Was a transcript with no witnesses, no video, and no audio sufficent "proof" to warrant a warrant? Might it instead have something to do with the presence of the famous Dateline crew in this sleepy town of 13,000 ? Naaah. Couldnt be..

284 posted on 08/14/2007 1:07:33 PM PDT by Nonstatist
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To: Sam's Army
So what happened?

By all accounts, Conradt did not lure anybody to his house. His real name and address was found through a web search by the people running the sting.

285 posted on 08/14/2007 1:07:42 PM PDT by gridlock (I have taken a sacred vow to always maintain a smaller carbon footprint than Al Gore)
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To: AppyPappy
Technically, they did not “walk”. They got busted. They just didn’t serve time.

They were arrested. They were punished. But they were never prosecuted and they never pled guilty.

As long as Dateline NBC never makes a mistake, never lies, and never shades the truth in order to make sensationalistic TV, I guess there is nothing to worry about. And everybody knows that Dateline NBC would never do any of those things.

Since when did FReepers start trusting the MSM?

286 posted on 08/14/2007 1:10:45 PM PDT by gridlock (I have taken a sacred vow to always maintain a smaller carbon footprint than Al Gore)
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To: Sam's Army
So what happened?

Who knows? All they had was a bunch of "transcripts", made by someone, from somewhere, implicating someone by name, and signed by anonymous... IOW, no Dateline, no arrest.

287 posted on 08/14/2007 1:13:31 PM PDT by Nonstatist
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To: gridlock

In this case, they do not. They don’t need to do that. The perps do everything for them. I think that is what is so fascinating about the program.


288 posted on 08/14/2007 1:15:17 PM PDT by AppyPappy (If you aren't part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)
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To: gridlock

So was he not even part of the conversations to have sex with a minor?


289 posted on 08/14/2007 1:15:18 PM PDT by Sam's Army
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To: gridlock

From what I read, the DA gave the decoy his information.


290 posted on 08/14/2007 1:16:07 PM PDT by AppyPappy (If you aren't part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)
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To: gridlock
Since when did FReepers start trusting the MSM?

Since they decided that hating "perverts" was more important than due process, fairness, truth, and presumption of innocence.

291 posted on 08/14/2007 1:16:26 PM PDT by Nonstatist
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To: NCLaw441

These men weren’t called up on the phone and solicited by teenage girls.


The truth may not be so black and white but rather a lovely shade of gray.

I *believe* that one possible scenario is that the decoy trolls for men in internet chat rooms. Within seconds, he/she gets a number of “hits” and then they start chatting.

Then over a period of what may be several weeks, there are IM or chat conversations *some of which may be initiated by the decoy*.

My guess is sometimes the mark initiates the conversations, but sometimes it the decoy.

This was brought out in one of the shows where one of the marks was relating how he told the decoy to “leave him alone” and that he was going to “report her to yahoo”.

Sooo - was there any solicitation here?

Initially, almost certainly not. But later on, it seems that the decoys do make contact with the marks.

What constitutes a new IM chat session versus a continuation of an old one? How much time has to pass?

I’m sure if I were a defense lawyer I’d be asking a lot of these questions.

Please don’t think that I’m defending the pervs who get caught, because I’m not.

I’m just pointing out that the situation may be not so cut and dry as your post might make it seem.


292 posted on 08/14/2007 1:18:20 PM PDT by 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
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To: AppyPappy
the DA gave the decoy

You sure it was the DA and not someone else? Someone hear a voice or see an image? How about we just bust into his house with dogs and guns and make sure the whole world sees it?? Then we'll make him confess, for sure!

293 posted on 08/14/2007 1:19:49 PM PDT by Nonstatist
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To: Dudoight

It’s a vile program with obscene language being spewed over the airwaves. I’ve watched a few segments, but then the language got coarser. I won’t watch it at all now. I think the show is there just to see how much they can get away with; how much obscene language they can air without getting censored.


294 posted on 08/14/2007 1:24:23 PM PDT by my_pointy_head_is_sharp (The Morlocks are above-ground now, but nobody seems to care.)
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To: Sam's Army
So was he not even part of the conversations to have sex with a minor?

Maybe. Maybe not. Are you going to take Dateline NBC's word for it?

It would be very interesting to ask the dead guy what he was thinking. But you can't... he's dead!

295 posted on 08/14/2007 1:25:23 PM PDT by gridlock (I have taken a sacred vow to always maintain a smaller carbon footprint than Al Gore)
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To: Nonstatist

The article said they talked via cell phone. It would be next to impossible to figure out a person’s identity just from a chat. If you watch the show, you will see a lot of cell phone activity.


296 posted on 08/14/2007 1:26:24 PM PDT by AppyPappy (If you aren't part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)
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To: AppyPappy

I think Conradt gave the decoy his e-mail address and a telephone number. Perverted Justice tracked him down from that.


297 posted on 08/14/2007 1:26:39 PM PDT by gridlock (I have taken a sacred vow to always maintain a smaller carbon footprint than Al Gore)
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To: gridlock
But, if forced to choose, I will favor the man accused of being a child predator who still has the presumption of innocence until conviction.

What presumption of innocence does he have if he shows up at the house, and transcripts are read of comments that he made online???

298 posted on 08/14/2007 1:27:23 PM PDT by my_pointy_head_is_sharp (The Morlocks are above-ground now, but nobody seems to care.)
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To: AppyPappy
The perps do everything for them

Except that poor DA.. But hes the exception that proves the rule!!

299 posted on 08/14/2007 1:27:37 PM PDT by Nonstatist
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To: 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
This was brought out in one of the shows where one of the marks was relating how he told the decoy to “leave him alone” and that he was going to “report her to yahoo”.

True but he did not end the conversation and ended up appearing at the house after telling her to leave him alone. Kinda hard to accuse the decoy when he drives over. She didn't go to his house.

300 posted on 08/14/2007 1:28:17 PM PDT by AppyPappy (If you aren't part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)
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