# Dumbass morons on Datelines' "To Catch a Predator" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 28, 2007, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967 "2007-02-28T03:03:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967/41 "2007-02-28T20:12:33Z")
[QUOTE=fusoya] As has been stated in this thread, NO real 13 year old girls would act that way, either online or in real life. [/QUOTE] Really? How can you be so confident of this? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967/42 "2007-02-28T20:35:11Z")
[QUOTE=Ferret Herder] **DrDeth** , there have been a number of discussions on the board on this and similar topics, and what these guys are being busted for are crimes of intent. If, say, you wanted to kill your neighbor, and you went out and bought a gun, watched your neighbor’s house, saw him go into his bedroom and turn out his lights, and you peered through the window and shot at the figure lying in the bed - if that turned out to be just a hump of blankets and pillows, should you get off scot-free because you didn’t actually shoot him, or should you be charged with something like attempted murder? Same deal here. [/QUOTE] But in this case, they don’t really pull the trigger. So- if you wanted to kill your neighbor, and you went out and bought a gun, watched your neighbor’s house, saw him go into his bedroom and turn out his lights, and you peered through the window- and then they arrested you as it was all a sting, should that be a crime? Maybe you are one of those that just the act of planning is enough and you’dnever go through with it. I am not saying this should be legal, either, but to me it is a dilemma. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967/43 "2007-02-28T20:53:30Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] But in this case, they don’t really pull the trigger. So- if you wanted to kill your neighbor, and you went out and bought a gun, watched your neighbor’s house, saw him go into his bedroom and turn out his lights, and you peered through the window- and then they arrested you as it was all a sting, should that be a crime? Maybe you are one of those that just the act of planning is enough and you’dnever go through with it. I am not saying this should be legal, either, but to me it is a dilemma. [/QUOTE] We’ve summarized the law of attempt and the discussion of inchoate crimes and the defenses of legal and factual impossibility many times before. I believe you have participated in those threads. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967/44 "2007-02-28T21:17:49Z")
Whatever the legalities, you can still be offended and pissed off by these low lifes. If there was some loophole in the law, that’d just make them slimier when they tried to slip through it. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2007, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967/45 "2007-02-28T21:30:18Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] I believe you have participated in those threads. [/QUOTE] He may have posted in them. Participation strongly implies reading, digestion, and engaged response. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967/46 "2007-02-28T21:34:08Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] He may have posted in them. Participation strongly implies reading, digestion, and engaged response. [/QUOTE] Very valid point. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967/47 "2007-02-28T21:46:18Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] I recommend, then, that YOU be the judge of the legality of their actions. First, ask yourself what the legal conditions for “entrapment” are. Then ask yourself if the actions taken by police or the PJ crew constitute entrapment. [/QUOTE] I have no interest in the legality of their actions. I wasn’t pointing out that they were legal or illegal one way or the other – I’m not qualified to make that judgement. I was pointing out that saying “Dude, what they’re doing is legal…they SAY it is RIGHT ON THEIR VERY OWN WEBSITE.” is dumb, especially when the source is as controversial as this. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967/48 "2007-02-28T21:53:59Z")
So what’s the legality on showing these guys on national TV? I mean, showing their faces- and the scene of their arrest- seems skeevy enough to me. Add in that it’s being done for _ratings_, and in my opinion, it crosses the line. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967/49 "2007-02-28T22:02:05Z")
“News” shows don’t have to get consent to show people’s faces. How often have you seen footage of a criminal defendant leaving a courtroom, futilely trying to cover their face? The news shows didn’t have to get a release to show the defendant leaving the courtroom. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967/50 "2007-02-28T22:06:48Z")
[QUOTE=Lightnin’] So what’s the legality on showing these guys on national TV? I mean, showing their faces- and the scene of their arrest- seems skeevy enough to me. Add in that it’s being done for _ratings_, and in my opinion, it crosses the line. [/QUOTE] I’m in print journalism, not broadcast, but I know it’s legal to publish photos of people taken in public (I would guess, but I’m not certain, that this extends to property you’re allowed to be on, as Dateline is), as long as you’re not appropriating their likeness to advertise a product. Sticking them on the cover of the magazine or newspaper doesn’t count as advertising, nor would, I assume, running teaser footage trying to advertise the show. There’s a branch of privacy invasion called “public disclosure of private embarrassing facts,” althought this probably wouldn’t (in my opinion of course, as someone who’s just studied it and is not a lawyer in any way) apply, since there’s a newsworthiness exception. ---
**Author:** ![Dob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Dob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dob)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967/51 "2007-02-28T22:08:14Z")
> [@](#): > > And a 5 second tagline “parents, talk to your kids about their internet usage” at the very end of the show doesn’t count. And what the hell else should they do? Dateline is not the parent for my kid, I am. I am the one who should do the talking, the explaning, the warnings, not Chris Hansen. Dont hold TV up to be a parent for children, it’s not. Reminding parents to talk to their kids is about as far as needed in my book. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967/52 "2007-02-28T23:34:28Z")
[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense] Nearly every crime can be judged on or legally boiled down to _intent_. [/QUOTE] That’s terrible. People should be punished for their actions, not their thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967/53 "2007-02-28T23:34:37Z")
Making the rounds-worth a read, especially if you have kids: [Reposted essay removed] ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967/54 "2007-02-28T23:39:45Z")
Thanks for the [fake glurge](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/parental/shannon.asp)… ---
**Author:** ![Hogwash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e57/32.png) [@Hogwash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogwash)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967/55 "2007-02-28T23:57:45Z")
You missed the part where Shannon was kicked in the cunt by her father for being such a troublemaker. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2007, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967/56 "2007-03-01T00:00:53Z")
[QUOTE=Ignatz] worth a read [/QUOTE] For me to _poop on!_ ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967/57 "2007-03-01T00:32:07Z")
[QUOTE=kung fu lola] That’s terrible. People should be punished for their actions, not their thoughts. [/QUOTE] You are missing the point on a very fundamental level. They are being punished for their actions. No one is arrested for having impure thoughts about children. They are arrested for the action of going out to meet a child for sex and for the action of trying to convince a child to have sex with them. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967/58 "2007-03-01T01:22:07Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] We’ve summarized the law of attempt and the discussion of inchoate crimes and the defenses of legal and factual impossibility many times before. I believe you have participated in those threads. [/QUOTE] You seem to think that “participation” means “agreement”. :dubious: My point is, I have doubts as to the _rightness_ of this law, not as to the _legality_ of it. There are several laws on the books that I don’t think are right. Do you think that every law is morally right? Do you never have doubts about a law? There were laws that make sex between consenting adults of the same gender illegal. I thought those laws were wrong. Did you support those laws when they were still legel? Now, this is one law where I am conflicted. It does seems to put scum perverts away and protect kids. But how do we know what they really intended? Maybe they know these girls are really adults but are going along with a fantasy. I doubt it, but it’s possible. My ladyfriend dressed up in a cheerleader outfit and “pretended” to be a HS cheerleader and I was the “horny professor”. Am I a criminal? ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967/59 "2007-03-01T01:27:48Z")
So have the Perverted Justice people given up on directly stalking, harassing, papering windshields, calling families and employers themselves in favor of only working with Dateline? ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967/60 "2007-03-01T01:34:49Z")
[QUOTE=Dob] And what the hell else should they do? Dateline is not the parent for my kid, I am. I am the one who should do the talking, the explaning, the warnings, not Chris Hansen. Dont hold TV up to be a parent for children, it’s not. Reminding parents to talk to their kids is about as far as needed in my book. [/QUOTE] That wasn’t the point I was making. These Dateline specials should actually do some real reporting, look into ACTUAL crimes which were a result of carelessness by ACTUAL children, as well as what could have been done to prevent them. This show is somewhere between the level of COPS and Candid Camera, yet it is billed as news. The only thing this show seems to be accomplishing is proving that there are lots of dirty old men out there with computers, who no matter what will never learn a lesson and will keep acting stupid on TV, meanwhile the news anchor who confronts these people tries to do everything he can to get them to admit “I’m an idiot and I wanted to have sex with this girl who doesn’t really exist” like it’s some kind of gameshow where he wins an award if he can get them to say the words. And I also don’t think this show is even for children in the first place. If anything, I bet it’s giving kids ideas, like it’s fun to mess around with lonely old men who’ll do whatever you want and bring you beer. I know and believe in the line “if you don’t like it, don’t watch it”, and I never will again (the only reason I watched it last night is I was amazed it was still on, and I wanted to see if they were actually going somewhere with the show now) and I’ve also never advocated a show getting removed from the air just for carrying a disgusting message, but I really felt the need to let off some steam and this seemed like the right place. Go ahead, keep airing the show, but get those damn news people out of there, move it to FOX, and rename it “When Stupid Horny Old Men Attack” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-morons-on-datelines-to-catch-a-predator/393967.md?page=4)