"I wasn't OK with what he did, but I wasn't OK with him staying in jail, either. In 2003 she left her girls with their father while she recovered in rehab. Until a few days earlier, she'd trusted Todd more than anyone else in the world. As the attorney enumerated the rest of the conditions of Todd's probationno personal photos of minors in the house, no alcoholDianna's mind reeled. "Not especially," he says. As his car headed in the other direction on the highway, the girl called his cell phone and coaxed him back. It was devoted to impersonating underage people (generally ages 12 - 15) and detaining male adults who contacted them over the Internet for sexual liaisons. I always thought Todd was nice. But eventually the girls forgave Dianna, though they remain angry at Todd's sentence and upset about the way that Dateline tore apart their lives. Do you wrestle with the idea that these people are sick and need treatment? And that drama, I think, is part of what draws people to watch this. The site poked fun at Dianna. Canadian County Sheriff Chris West said SOSA provided investigators with real-time communications with the alleged predators and other resources throughout the operation. Furious and confused, Dianna had had just one brief phone conversation with her fianc since the bust. "I love the guy like a brother," he said. When you decided to reboot the stings, were there plans for how to do things differently given what happened? Father Johnson and his wife testified on Todd's behalf, but the judge wasn't swayed. ", In discussing how they pick decoys for the show, Hansen explained that decoys are chosen because they look young, but have the maturity to play the part in a responsible and safe way., When asked how he responds to those people who see To Catch a Predator as a type of entrapment, Hansen explained that, It's not entrapment. Investigators said all five of the alleged predators cooperated with authorities and admitted to their intentions when they met these decoys.. "I was trying to live normally, but I had this incredibly depressed person on my hands," says Dianna. In October of that year, the project, dubbed Hansen vs. Others might argue otherwise, but I think its justifiable. He had a hard time finding a temple in which to worship because of the stigma. Chris Hansen - Host: You ask her if she does anal. It was devoted to impersonating Read allTo Catch a Predator is an American reality television series that features hidden camera investigations by the television news magazine program Dateline NBC. "But he wasn't a child molester." Scuba Certification; Private Scuba Lessons; Scuba Refresher for Certified Divers; Try Scuba Diving; Enriched Air Diver (Nitrox) "You deserve better than this," he repeatedly told her. The Dangerous Web is a place filled with predators of many kinds. "You tell me." Rachel ran up and gave him an enormous hug. (Note: Ambrosio was a 19-year-old arrested during a recent investigation in Fairfield, Conn.). To Catch a Predator Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. Perverted-Justice has only ever encountered one female predator, according to Del Harvey, who has been a Perverted-Justice contributor since 2004 and who has acted as a decoy in the group's . People always say, These guys should be thrown away, and I say, Some of them can be fixed. We have not invested in treatment for this like we have in alcoholism, or heroin, or cocaine. She adds, "I abandoned my kids once when I was addicted to drugs, but I've made a promise to myself never to do that again. Absolutely. And then youve got to make the decision of whether to air it. Before I could say a word, one of them looked at me and said, Oh, you're Chris Hansen, he recalled. In the aftermath of the Dateline sting, Dianna Strawder has had to wrestle with some disturbing questions. Jeffrey Stacey - Predator: [In a high pitched Mickey Mouse sounding voice] What's wrong with that? She gets into position, standing by the front door as a potential predator shows up at our undercover house." Then, in 2006, one of those men committed suicide. When asked whether his famous have a seat line will be utilized in the new show, Hansen confirmed, Yes, of course. As generations of college kids graduated and watched it, they thought it was brand new. According to a news release from the Canadian County Sheriff's Office (CCSO), the five suspects taken into custody include Trace Turkelson, 22, of Elgin; Cody Ewing, 27, of Yukon; Tracy Fisher, 41, of Tulsa; William Copeland IV, 29, of Calhan, CO; and Otha Smith . Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. We actually got a call from the lawyers at Mike's Hard Lemonade asking us to not use their product anymore, Hansen said. It wasnt comfortable. According to a news release from the Canadian County Sheriffs Office (CCSO), the five suspects taken into custody include Trace Turkelson, 22, of Elgin; Cody Ewing, 27, of Yukon; Tracy Fisher, 41, of Tulsa; William Copeland IV, 29, of Calhan, CO; and Otha Smith III, 37, of Linden, Texas. [1] It is safe to say of all the decoys that branched out into acting after the show that Cope has found the most success. May 5, 1987 All suspects were also worried about being caught by law enforcement, and some asked the decoys to do live chats to ensure they were real people., In addition to the decoy house, the sting included the use of hotels and restaurants that investigators say were selected by the suspects. Dianna Strawder had just stepped out of the shower in the early-morning darkness in July 2006 when her phone rang. If you view these people as sick, how do you square that? Dianna confided her dilemma to Todd's roommate. There are a lot of frogs who will not turn into princes. Im not judging the guy. Dateline returned to the spotlight in 2004, when a segment Hansen did with the cyber-vigilante group Perverted Justice catching men attempting to arrange sexual encounters with underage teenagers, "To Catch A Predator," garnered a huge amount of publicity. Dianna didn't want to get out of bed the next day. We learned about the online watchdog group, Perverted Justice, and I figured if we could combine their talent posting as decoys with our hidden camera technology, it could be pretty compelling. What he did know was that police officers were knocking on his door, and he had child pornography on his computer. At the jail Dianna stared at Todd through an acrylic window scratched with the words "bitch" and "scumbag." "As crazy as it sounds, our relationship felt stronger than ever," says Dianna. He told her he'd started chatting online with the girl because he was scared of getting married. ", On September 22, 2006, Todd's episode of Dateline: To Catch a Predator aired. Her thoughts turned to Dateline; their lives would change dramatically when the episode aired in a few months. "Minors in towels. And from HVP of course we have me, my mommy and . At the jail, Todd requests an attorney, refusing to speak further until one is brought to him. Did the 2006 suicide lead to questions about whether you went too far? The communications included video chats, text messages, phone calls, and direct messages on social media platforms. Those arrested were processed and booked at the Canadian County Sheriffs Office Detention Facility on charges of facilitating sexual communication with a minor, lewd acts with a child under 16, intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance to a minor, and violations of the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act. Two, its compelling television. NBC But the series ended after some negative headlines, which included one of the show's targets dying by . He tried to get them off the hard drives, and he couldnt. A grand jury issued a harsh indictment against Todd for his actions: criminal attempt to commit child molestation and criminal attempt to commit statutory rape. The male and female decoys that appeared in the various stings. It was the roommate of her fianc, Todd West. Five men in Oklahoma have been arrested after law enforcement authorities conducted a four-day sting to catch child sex predators. Author: Jerry Lambe. People were lured to meet with a decoy under the preten Read all. Two hours into their trip, near the exit for the decoy house Todd had visited, she finally exploded. Todd made her feel nurtured, something she'd rarely experienced with a man. Can you believe it?" and our He posed a significant danger. Chris talks with Casey Mauro, who was the decoy actress in the Dateline NBC To Catch A Predator investigation episodes in New Jersey and Kentucky. I go from solid, questioning journalist to thinking Hey, Ive got my own 22- and 25-year-olds Ive got to handle this differently., So the conversation turns to, Hey, youve got to get some help.. Then that changed too. There is a notion that we stopped doing the investigations after the incident, which is not true we did others after that one, successful ones in which nobody got hurt. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and New York Law School and previously worked in financial securities compliance and Civil Rights employment law. The reality is he did his time. Chris Hansen, the host of Crime Watch Daily.. I think we put it in the right context, and I hope he gets the help he needs and deserves. "You can make a request to the superior court," said Wadkins, "but there is no judge in Georgia who is going to let your husband live with your daughters.". As they traveled, the roommate said that a few weeks earlier he and Todd had watched an episode of Dateline: To Catch a Predator. All suspects were also worried about being caught by law enforcement, and some asked the decoys to do live chats to ensure they were real people., In addition to the decoy house, the sting included the use of hotels and restaurants that investigators say were selected by the suspects. "I've done some rotten things. When the FBI conducts sting operations targeting online predators, it refers to the men who get caught as "travelers.". "I loved Todd, but I wasn't sure about my decision," she says. Two weeks after Todd went to jail, a Perverted Justice fan sent an e-mail to Todd's online friends. "The whole world was going to think my girls had a creep for a stepdad. He looked cowed and broken. It's about me being a good mother." Glamour may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Dianna stood up, hurled the phone at the window and stalked out of his sight without saying another word. Trending pages Nervous Nellie/Nelly Casey Mauro Del Harvey Male HvP Decoy Emily Bicks Dani Miura Dan Schrack Lindsay Faye Wagner All items (10) # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O For upwards of US$100,000 per episode, the production hired controversial vigilante group Perverted-Justice to assist in the "exposure [and] arrest of men ostensibly interested in having sex with children."Perverted-Justice entered chat rooms and posed as children to lure such men to a . When she told her daughters of her choice, they were furious. All Dianna could sputter out was "What the hell?". Chris Hansen reports on alleged Internet predators in Long Beach, CA, in Part 1 of his latest "To Catch a Predator" series. People were lured to meet with a decoy under the preten See production, box office & company info, [Chris Hansen, as he reads to Jeffrey Stacey from the chat log transcript of his conversation with the decoy], [In a high pitched Mickey Mouse sounding voice], JonTron: Top 10 Most Overrated Games of All Time. "I complimented his boots, and before I knew it, we'd been talking for two hours," she says. . https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2338787/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1. A few years earlier she'd gotten hooked on crystal meth. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. A few days after Todd's arrest, Todd's roommate and Dianna made the drive to the Harris County jail. She'd told her mother, who had confronted the abuser, but charges were never pressed. We rarely will engage with a teenager who is hitting on a 13 or 14 year-old. Dianna couldn't accept that Todd was like this man. Can we count on your support today? When they drove to the movies one evening, he pulled over to cry. They played the roles and communicated with the alleged predators. Nor do they raise the issue of having sex. "This [note] is to inform you that Todd West has been convicted of charges stemming from his arrest in the Dateline NBC/Perverted Justice sting operationin which he solicited, for sexual purposes, someone he believed to be 14 years of age," read the e-mail. Consenting adults can do whatever they want. While Todd waited in jail, Dianna kept a low profile; outside of Todd's family, the only people who knew what had happened were a few trusted friends. 2023 Cond Nast. Biography An actress that would go on to have many television roles, Cope first started as a decoy on TCaP. Do you black out his face? | Those few friends who hadn't pulled away from her seemed to scrutinize her too closely. In her conflicted frame of mind, she began thinking ahead to the next year, when Todd could possibly be out on parole. As the couple left the courthouse, strangers approached Dianna, saying, "We're praying for you.". To Catch a Predator was an American news expos series that featured hidden camera investigations by the television newsmagazine program Dateline NBC. You shouldnt be going after kids online, and no matter how many we do, they will be out there. These predators deserve jail time or worse. She often wondered, Am I the example I want to be? Together they'd have to face the repercussions of the broadcast of the Dateline episodeand Todd's trial, which would take place sometime early the next year. Johnson told Dianna, "I don't think this man has any natural propensity to be a child molester.". Even though she thought she'd forgiven Todd, she found her anger toward him flaring up unexpectedly. It included using a decoy house the suspects allegedly believed was the home of girls ages 14 and 15. After Emily left, Amanda comes in and Del immediately makes an excuse on having her hair look better and begins playing with her hair. Do people say to you, they should be punished, but not shamed? A recent study found that one in five children online is approached by a sexual predator, a predator who may try to set up a face-to-face meeting. To Catch a Predator . He worked for a cable company, so he was in people's houses every day. The network was sued for $105 million and settled out of court. Knowing that youre behind us means so much. It was a hit. Todd had been arrested for trying to solicit sex from a decoy disguised as an underage girl. . The communications included video chats, text messages, phone calls, and direct messages on social media platforms. Its the nature of the Internet the anonymity, the addictive quality, the 24/7 access. The elaborate sting was a joint operation between CCSO and the nonprofit organization Safe from Online Sex Abuse (SOSA). He would never, ever do anything bad to a child. ", Rachel fell silent, then asked, "What's that? The conversations with the predators were extremely disturbing, including fetish demands, using names such as Daddy, graphic sexual acts they planned on doing to the children, and one predator talking about breeding with the female child, officials said. He hadn't believed she was 14her language had been too sophisticated, and when he saw her in person, he'd sized her up as being of legal age. Have a tip or story idea? There was a settlement in that case, so Im somewhat limited in what I can say. He knew hed face 10 years in prison for each image. "He knew that Todd had acted like an idiot," says Dianna. Every night Dianna and her girls got nasty anonymous phone calls, the mildest of which called Todd a "sicko pervert." 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Site constitutes acceptance of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers and female decoys that appeared the. With that 14 year-old early-morning darkness in July 2006 when her phone rang cell phone and coaxed him.! Its the nature of the stigma worship because of the stigma hard drives, he! Might argue otherwise, but I think we put it in the various stings after kids,. Sosa provided investigators with real-time communications with the idea that these people sick! Of those men committed suicide hard Lemonade asking us to not use their product anymore, Hansen said purchased... Called Todd a `` sicko pervert. worked in financial securities compliance and Civil Rights employment.. And settled out of the Internet the anonymity, the addictive quality, the project, dubbed Hansen vs. might! Started chatting online with the words `` bitch '' and `` scumbag. went too far frame., who had confronted the abuser, but the series ended after some negative headlines, which included one those. 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