# Dateline NBC makes me pro-pedophilia **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2006, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229 "2006-05-18T04:31:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229/21 "2006-05-18T16:04:50Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > “Help! I’m being arrested by the Swamp Thing!” "You’ve committed a crime against nature, pervert! Now nature’s going to get _you!_ ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229/22 "2006-05-18T16:25:32Z")
Since when has _Dateline_ been considered a bastion of journalistic ethics? Oh yeah, since their revelatory piece on exploding GM trucks. :rolleyes: Stranger ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229/23 "2006-05-18T17:02:36Z")
The pervs were idiots, and deserve to get busted. Those guys should be forced to wear ‘I’m with stupid’ t-shirts in their coffins. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229/24 "2006-05-18T17:20:16Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > The pervs were idiots, and deserve to get busted. Those guys should be forced to wear ‘I’m with stupid’ t-shirts in their coffins. ‘With?’ Despite the stupidity and the grossness, we do have a news outlet paying a source AND engaging it what could be described as vigilante justice - not to mention the old ‘scare the parents by telling them the Internet is full of child molesters’ thing. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229/25 "2006-05-18T17:34:23Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > ‘With?’ > > Despite the stupidity and the grossness, we do have a news outlet paying a source AND engaging it what could be described as vigilante justice - not to mention the old ‘scare the parents by telling them the Internet is full of child molesters’ thing. The New York Times referred to it as “checkbook journalism.” ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229/26 "2006-05-18T17:41:00Z")
> [@Wee Bairn](#): > > Like previous poster, I am wondering why the hell they find it necessary to have a cop dressed up as a tree or whatever to catch a middle-aged, fat, balding perv? Why also do they then have to have six other cops bumrush the perv and tackle them on the driveway? Only or two even put up the slightest resistance, the camoflauge and tackling was just so unncessary it was hilarious. These are evil people, but in no way a threat to six armed cops. Just have a cop stand by the back door, when the perp walks out, arrest him, no drama needed! You would think Osama Bin Laden was walking out of the house with the camoflauge and whatnot. That was friggin hilarious! Also, why camflauge one cop, when standing six feet away are a bunch of uniformed cops? Do they think that one moment of suprise when the bush jumps up with the gun is enough to distract the perv, so he can be subdued, as if he couldn’t have been subdued without that? Good on ya, Nightline, for doing this, but let up on the drama queen bit. Apparently the tackling was considered necessary during the one in Florida because of concealed carry. I guess they were assuming that the pervs were going to pistol-whip the children or something. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229/27 "2006-05-18T17:50:24Z")
> [@brianjedi](#): > > I guess they were assuming that the pervs were going to pistol-whip the children or something. If they truly believed these guys were carrying concealed weapons, Chris Hansen wouldn’t be standing there berating them for being disgusting pervs. It seemed to me the cops were really hamming it up for the camera. I’m almost surprised they didn’t taser & pepper spray each one of them once they were tackled. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229/28 "2006-05-18T18:19:25Z")
> [@brianjedi](#): > > Apparently the tackling was considered necessary during the one in Florida because of concealed carry. I guess they were assuming that the pervs were going to pistol-whip the children or something. [Homer Simpson Voice] Mmmm, pistol whip…(drool and that odd noise he makes) [/homer simpson voice] ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229/29 "2006-05-18T18:30:30Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] And yes, Officer Larch in the tree-suit was just frickin’ hilarious. IQUOTE] Number 1…The Larch. The Larch. The…Larch. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229/30 "2006-05-18T18:36:10Z")
Funniest. Hour of TV. EVER. In fact, I would fully support this becoming a weekly series. Do you know what the best part about this being a weekly series would be? No one would ever learn. They could use the same house, the same screen names, and everything- - they’d still have creepy douchebags willing to try to get in some little girl’s pants. Tree cop was hilarious. The first time he ran out, my friend and I were gasping for laughter. The look on the Creepy Dudes’ faces totally captured that, “HOLY SHIT THERE’S A TREE ATTACKING ME!” look. Brilliant! But I think we can all agree that the star perv of that episode was LittleTrini85 (or whatever his screen name was). You know, the guy that Hansen walked in on and said, “You’re naked. There’s a 14 year old girl. You’re chasing the cat. _You’ve got COOL WHIP._” That, my friends, is the funniest line ever uttered on Dateline. I have always wondered why the guys don’t just bolt when they see Chris (mostly because, as someone mentioned, how do they know that he isn’t the girl’s father, ready to beat some ass?), but then I realized something: Dateline probably just doesn’t show us the guys that run. That wouldn’t be good TV, now would it? And normally, I would feel bad about people being trapped like this and I’d feel even worse about laughing at them; but, ya know what? These guys showed up to diddle children. Perhaps it makes me a bad person, but I find their situations hilarious. Chris Hansen: "Ahem. You wrote. ’ So have you ever BEEPED a cat?’ " ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229/31 "2006-05-18T18:41:58Z")
Is that how you identify a police office from a long distance away? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229/32 "2006-05-18T19:37:35Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > If they truly believed these guys were carrying concealed weapons, Chris Hansen wouldn’t be standing there berating them for being disgusting pervs. Maybe this whole thing is a stunt dreamed up by the network to get rid of Hansen without worrying about contract disputes. “Sorry, no money for Kevlar. Go get 'em, tough guy.” ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229/33 "2006-05-18T20:35:46Z")
About the guy in the ghillie suit (that’s the tree cop to you ): I figure it was just like in _Alice’s Restaraunt_ --“they were using us all kinds of police officer equipment they had hanging around the police officer station…” We had to laugh at the one time a big, black SUV careened up in the yard. No, no they aren’t hamming it up for the camera at all, no sir. :rolleyes: Mostly these Dateline shows just depress me. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229/34 "2006-05-18T23:07:14Z")
You laugh, but these shows provide a major public service. You see, I have a rather unusual fetish. I’m aroused by propositioning middle aged male journalists/vigilantes who are pretending to be sexually vulnerable pubescent girls. And then being restrained by several police officers, at least one of whom is dressed like a tree. All while being filmed. Thanks to Dateline NBC, my wildest fantasies can come true. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229/35 "2006-05-19T02:04:01Z")
I only caught the last 20 minutes or so of the show, best TV ever. I thought the last one was funny as hell (I like seeing this type of pervert get arrested) but tree cop took the cake. ## I can see just the cops at the station going “hey, Dateline wants us to nap these perverts on TV. I wonder what we should do to make this more fun. Ya know, Bob used to work for Disney; I wonder if he still has that tree suit from Animal Kingdom? He does?! Oh, this is going to be the best sting EVER!” The mind of the pervert. Hey, here’s a taker. I wonder if she likes Cool Whip? She does. I wonder if she has a cat. BONUS! All I have to do is strip when I enter the house. _driving to the house_ Gosh. I just remembered that show I saw on Dateline. I wonder if… naw. I’m sure this 14 year old girl is into Cool Whip and cats. That’s not strange at all. She wants me. _entering house_ I’ll just whip off my pants. HERE KITTY KITTY KITTY! _Dateline comes out_ Oh crap. I’m busted. I knew I should have stayed at home are jerked off to the Olsen Twins on Full House. Shit. They’re letting me leave? That was close. How sureal was that? _leaves the house_ I am so lucky. I’m going to be on TV for being a perv but at least I didn’t get arrested. I think… errr… why is that shrub moving? WHY IS THAT SHRUB RUNNING AT ME?!?!?!? _getting handcuffed_ Why am I getting arrested by a shrub? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229/36 "2006-05-19T02:52:41Z")
Man, this is gold, I say Gold! What you need now is to make it an event where a cross-section of regular people become competing sting teams and they challenge each other to see who can nab more suspects and/or come up with the best set-up… ---
**Author:** ![BoringDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@BoringDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoringDad)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229/37 "2006-05-19T03:01:37Z")
> [@Larry Borgia](#): > > God I hate that Chris Hansen. Hate hate hate. Sanctimonious blow-dried creep. Dude, being morally superior to a kiddie-raper is not something to take that much satisfaction in. And his schoolmarmish Assistant-vice principal-catching-the kids-smoking-pot-after-sixth-period demeanour makes me wish one of the pervs would pull a gun on him just so I can see him wet himself on national TV. Nah. He’s not that bad. He’s not John Stossel. Gimme a break John! You’re a moron! ---
**Author:** ![Large\_Marge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@Large\_Marge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Large_Marge)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229/38 "2006-05-19T03:05:07Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > The New York Times referred to it as “checkbook journalism.” As if the New York Times is in a place to talk. No one checked Jayson Blair’s sources. It was good entertainment. Why check them? People love the stories! _insert barfy smiley here_ ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229/39 "2006-05-19T05:04:39Z")
> [@Large Marge](#): > > No one checked Jayson Blair’s sources. It was good entertainment. Why check them? People love the stories! Mind if I ask where you got your journalism degree? The Times did fuck up big time with Blair, but it’s loopy to say that it had anything to do with money. They failed to do a number of things, but no newspaper in the world is going to watch every step their reporters take. If you’re unable to trust your employees, you can’t run your business. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229/40 "2006-05-19T06:39:16Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Is the OP saying that he thinks people are just playing around and trying to get on TV? Oh, I’m not really sure what these people are thinking. Somehow I got the impression none of these guys truly expected a cute little 14-year-old would be there waiting for them. Although, I’m sure they were hoping, “maybe this one time, my dreams will come true! This 14-year-old really is into whipped cream, duct tape & rope!” I kinda suspect most of these guys, if they’ve ever done this before, are used to the fact that every time they show up at one of these houses, it’s one of their fellow perverts waiting for them. “Oh, man! Well, I brought beer. Want one?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dateline-nbc-makes-me-pro-pedophilia/357229.md?page=3)