Just watched a Penn and Teller episode about children and fear of strangers, then watched Chris Hansen on MSNBC.

Creepy people don't live on every dark corner, nor do they ever look creepy. If someone's going to touch your kid, its probably going to be someone you know.

The media perpetuates this idea that someone, somewhere, is hiding behind a bush waiting to pounce on your child and abduct/rape/murder them. Yes, it happens, about 100 times a year. There are 73 million children (people under 18) in the US. The odds are almost nonexistent.

Lying to kids about the real world ("OMG! EVERY GROWN-UP WANTS TO TOUCH YOU!") results in distrust and disobedience. Eventually we all become adults and realize that there is no reason to be afraid of the outside world.

End rant!

Your diversionary tactics are not gonna work

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w52/jdinmaui/ChrisHanson.jpg

I've always had this sneaking suspicion that the tables are gonna turn on him one day.

The part that really disturbs me (and they've been in trouble for this already) is that NBC has managed to find a CLEVER way to turn the ABUSE of children into a form of PROFITABLE POPCORN entertainment for the sick fawks out there who can't look away from a train-wreck. Anyone who thinks for a moment that NBC is doing anyone any favors with this garbage has serious problems.

The thought of people sitting there on their couches watching this bullshit and rooting as if it were a high school football game every time one of the perps gets taken down is truly sickening.

MSNBC is an ever declining liberal media outlet littered with the decaying carcases of news industry has-beens. It doesn't surprise me that they have to result to this sort of nonsense to turn a buck.

And to Jesda's original point, anyone followed the Jenarlo Wilson case in Atlanta with any regularity knows all too well the pitfalls of taking anything too far. However, I must part ways with my brown feathered friend on his numerical calculations... I guarantee you it does happen *alot* more than 100 times a year.

It's coming from the mainstream media. What do you expect?

What Jesda doesnt want us to see on an upcoming Dateline...................




































http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w52/jdinmaui/pound.gif

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v222/gheb88/Pedobeartransportslolis.jpg

Heh. Pedobear.

Haha, Pedobear, so funny, yet in such bad taste.

Jesda, did you watch these videos before or after I showed you the uncut version of Bob Saget's take on "The Aristocrats"?

Congratulations. This thread has earned the...

http://www.yatpundit.com/random_pics/pedobear_seal.jpg

An increasing majority of local Law Enforcement Agencies all over the Country are setting up On-Line stings to catch sexual predators. Just here in Florida, a recent operation in Polk county netted 28 men looking to arrange sex with 13 and 14 year olds On-Line. Unless one bust in Florida makes up 30% of the Nation's pedophiles, I think your statistics are just slightly off.

http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2007/4/2/polk_sex_sting.html

No one likes pedophiles- we all think they're disgusting. Since becoming a Father however, I loathe them with a hatred that goes right to the core of my being. I suspect that anyone who would suggest that kids not be taught the risks of talking to strangers (especially On-Line) is not a Parent.

Jesda does have a point...it's hard balancing their need for protection with their need to not be terrified of the world. I think I've done a pretty good job..so far. I did once catch a guy who claimed to be 29 (probably even older than that) hitting on my 15 year old daughter when she was in a teen chat room. I'm hoping I scared the crap out of him..but wished later that I'd also reported him. After that my kids were also banned from chat rooms.

I do think that he's also right that it's much more likely to happen with someone they know than a complete stranger. When I was 10, I had an uncle who tried to molest me. Funny, I was a very insecure awkward kid..but I had the gumption to tell him off and to threaten him if he ever tried it again. I was always very careful with my kids..it's not like the pedophiles wear a badge or anything.

I'll never understand the appeal of having sex with a child....it just boggles my mind.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v222/gheb88/Pedobeartransportslolis.jpg

bahahahah

Thread Hijacked
http://www.pedobearpics.com/pedobear/pedo-dog.gif

Only children should be having sex with children

The pedophile problem stems from the very poor class of prisoners we currently house in our penitentiaries. Back in the day, these guys did not come out of incarceration alive. Public spirited prisoners made sure of that. It was the only way they had to protect their own children that they had left behind and they took full advantage of the opportunity. Any prison sentence for a pedophile was a sure death sentence or worse. Shame on the the present pitiful prisoner population.

Since becoming a Father however, I loathe them with a hatred that goes right to the core of my being. I suspect that anyone who would suggest that kids not be taught the risks of talking to strangers (especially On-Line) is not a Parent.

Being an offspring of you, your kid is probably smart so I wouldn't sweat it. Just tell them that not all grown-ups are created equal, and they should scream and kick if someone tries to diddle them, even if its a family member or friend.

The latter especially. Most molestation and child rape victims were abused by people in the family or friends of the family. Its usually someone familiar with access to the child.

Set boundaries but don't build walls.

I agree that you shouldn't raise them in mortal fear of the outside world, but part of the reason there's so many unplanned pregnancies, school shootings, cheerleader beating videos and 7 year olds joyriding their Grandma's car to "do hood rat stuff" (Google "Latarian Milton") is lack of Parental supervision.

Letting your kids on the Internet chat rooms and MySpace is incredibly dangerous, and I hope that the current generation of kids that actually understand how the Internet works do a better job of protecting their children than their parents have done for them.

Tony, you seem like a very good father, it's not often that we see as many people so adamant about parental supervision anymore, and that'll go a long way in the future, and keep the level of shit in our society down. :)

the current generation of kids that actually understand how the Internet works do a better job of protecting their children than their parents have done for them.

Hopefully that is true. I suspect predators will get more sophisticated as well, but we should be better prepared than parents of today with teenagers.

We have just one computer in our house, and it is in the kitchen where I can keep an eye on the kids while they are on it. Luckily my kids now have no interest in chat rooms. But I keep an eye on them and periodically check their search histories. I haven't found anything too alarming...although I was slightly annoyed that my 14 year old son had added the "Hawaiian Tropics Models" website to MY "my favorites" list.

I live in kind of a crappy neighborhood...and am still always amazed at the lack of supervision the kids have. I've come home past midnight and seen kids under the age of 10 riding around on their bikes. It's crazy.

Myspace isn't dangerous at all. Its hanging out with much older strangers alone that's dangerous.

Yeah, but I'd imagine a hot teenage girl would get a lot of wierd comments from horny middleaged men on her page....I'd be creeped out by that as a parent.

My kids have their "My Space" sites set up so that only people they give permission to can look at them. No creepy old horndogs allowed

Yeah, but I'd imagine a hot teenage girl would get a lot of wierd comments from horny middleaged men on her page....I'd be creeped out by that as a parent.

That also happens IRL sometimes.






Like when I go to the mall.











:hide:

I'm sure you've got a long list of restraining orders.






Filed against you.







:p :duck:

Myspace isn't dangerous at all. Its hanging out with much older strangers alone that's dangerous.

I suspect the parents of the girl who was beaten and hospitalized by six cheerleaders as revenge for something she said on MySpace might disagree with you. Social networking sites are dangerous in general to impressionable kids, especially due to the fact that people post all kinds of sexually provocative, violent and generally uncivilized information and boasts on their pages.

A few local newspapers grabbed screenshots from Mercades Nichols' (the "ringleader" of the Cheerleader beating incident) MySpace page during the whole fiasco. Here's an excerpt:

One of her pages (which was deleted earlier today, probably at the advice of her attorney), had a banner that read, "To all you hatin b**** a** n***** sending me bullsh** hate mail...f*** you, I'll beat yo a** too!" She also stated on the page that she'd do it all over again (the beating) and then added that if anyone has "s***" to say to her mother, to bring it on and her mom will "kick your a** too." Another banner was so vile and racist, that I dare not repeat it. Is this the same girl that her grandmother described in an interview as "really a loving, caring kid?" It certainly doesn't appear she's feeling any regret or remorse for her actions.

Not the kind of stuff that my Son needs to be reading.

I suspect the parents of the girl who was beaten and hospitalized by six cheerleaders as revenge for something she said on MySpace might disagree with you.

They would have pummeled her for putting a note in every locker at school. Its not the medium, its what was said and how they responded.

Your son will read that stuff eventually, sooner than you think or want.

Myspace is the modern day note-passing....no matter how you say it, they'll find out and come looking.

When I was 14, I actually shit talked this kid I went to High school with to some people over AIM, he found out, he wasn't happy, but thankfully he was pretty level headed so he came over to my place, told me to knock it off and I did. The point of my story is that talking online, whether it be AIM, notes on myspace or chatrooms, has taken the place, or is siding right up next to, spoken rumors and passed notes when it comes to middle and high school drama.

Proper parenting doesn't stop with the Internet, it also involves teaching your teenage daughter the pitfalls of dressing like a skank. If you don't want the attention, don't wear a napkin for a skirt.

Yeah, but I'd imagine a hot teenage girl would get a lot of wierd comments from horny middleaged men on her page....I'd be creeped out by that as a parent.

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w52/jdinmaui/teacher.jpg

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w52/jdinmaui/teacher.jpg

Bahahahah

Too skinny!

Too skinny!

Puberty soon!

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w52/jdinmaui/teacher.jpg


"Don't stand, don't stand so close to me...."

The thought of people sitting there on their couches watching this bullshit and rooting as if it were a high school football game every time one of the perps gets taken down is truly sickening.

MSNBC is an ever declining liberal media outlet littered with the decaying carcases of news industry has-beens. It doesn't surprise me that they have to result to this sort of nonsense to turn a buck.

EVERY show is about money isn't it?. Everyone is trying to make a buck. Ok, with that out of the way, at least shows like this are doing some good IMO versus a dumb reality show. Think about what Hansen does to these guys on Predator. He shows them on prime time TV to the world!. Thats worse than scrubbing their testacles on a cheese grater if you ask me. Nevermind the sentencing and jail part, think about the families of these men watching in horror as daddy pulls up to someone's house so he can get it on with a 12 year old boy. That molestor all of a sudden looses his job, has a record, probably gets divorced (if married), his past and especially this show will follow him for the rest of his life. I dont think a "bad guy" can meet a worse fate than being on Hansen's show.

I completely agree with Jesda.

It's not the medium, MySpace is basically a virtual park. Kids could be approached by strangers in a park, just as they can on Myspace. Hence you don't leave your kids along in the park and you don't leave them unsupervised online. We shouldn't ban Myspace and more than we should ban parks.

As for what they read online, they'll hear stuff on tv and out in the real world too. Parents never fully know their kids lives and what goes on in their heads and what comes out of their mouths. Oh sure, they like to think they do, but they don't.

Kids will grow up just fine even in the face of all these things if they get proper parenting. Some people on here certianly seem to have a good idea what proper parenting is so their kids should turn out fine.

I like what Destroyer said, at least it's not some reality show. That is what's dumbing down society as a whole.

The bottom line is, NBC is not donating the proceeds of this show to any LEA or doing it commercial free, they're doing it to make a buck... and when you get past all the friday night lights fun of it... they are making a buck BECAUSE children get abused. I don't find any way to justify it, regardless of the infamy a few perps get. Not to mention these are perps who don't even know the victim, the worst ones, i.e. the family members doing it behind closed doors for years are the real danger.

The bottom line is, NBC is not donating the proceeds of this show to any LEA or doing it commercial free, they're doing it to make a buck... and when you get past all the friday night lights fun of it... they are making a buck BECAUSE children get abused. I don't find any way to justify it, regardless of the infamy a few perps get. Not to mention these are perps who don't even know the victim, the worst ones, i.e. the family members doing it behind closed doors for years are the real danger.They regurlarly get 50-60 showing up at each location they do Predator episode per day!. Does it solve the problem? NO. Does it help? YES. Take just one scumbag off the street and the whole show was worth it IMO. Take a whole slew of them off and I really dont care who is making money off it. Its still a good thing!. Would it be better if they had done a "Flavor of Love" BS reality show?.

They regurlarly get 50-60 showing up at each location they do Predator episode per day!. Does it solve the problem? NO. Does it help? YES. Take just one scumbag off the street and the whole show was worth it IMO. Take a whole slew of them off and I really dont care who is making money off it. Its still a good thing!. Would it be better if they had done a "Flavor of Love" BS reality show?.

LMAO NBC didn't have anything to do with taking them down, it was the LAW ENFORCEMENT agency they PARTNERED with that is doing the take downs, and they don't need a TV crew to do it...

Basically here's how it went down at the NBC corporate meeting..... "Chris... this network is going down the toilet we need something quick!" "Hey what's something those hicks out there in TV Land are afraid of... hmmm... I GOT IT! They all hate chester the molester!" "So how can we make money off that Chris?" "We'll just ask some law enforcement agencies to let us participate in the process! And we look like heroes!" "That's brilliant. Do it."

In other words, the perps would still be hauled off to jail or whatever they do with them, regardless of whether there are cameras present or not.

So the bottom line stands... NBC is making money and garnering RATINGS from a proof of concept based on child abuse. There's a reason CNN and Fox don't bother with sensational garbage like this and NBC has already settled at least one lawsuit over this program. Fail.

..."To Catch a Predator" is also an ethical minefield.

NBC News and the group it pays to chat online with potential predators, Perverted Justice, have been accused of entrapment. Critics say the series promotes humiliation as entertainment, much like the cringe-worthy auditions that begin each season of "American Idol." When Texas prosecutor Louis "Bill" Conradt Jr. put a bullet through his head after his house was surrounded by police and TV cameras interested in his online sex talk last November, his sister blamed NBC.

Among several ethical concerns is that NBC has become actively involved in the story instead of covering it, said Bob Steele of the Poynter Institute in Florida.

"I fear that `Dateline's' motivation is driven by the quest for eyeballs, for ratings, rather than a legitimate journalistic purpose when they perpetually run what in essence is the same story over and over," he said.

-USA Today via AP

Here's the bottom line brother: If you were a child molestor, would you prefer to be quietly arrested in a fairly discreet manor or would you rather it be on public television for the world to see and have your friends and family download it all day on youtube and rewind and play it back in slow motion?. I hear what you are saying but I believe there is some good coming out of show like this. Money makes the world go round. Sure someone is taking a tradgedy and profiting from it but as long as there is something positive coming from it, I'm all for it. Hell, look at our Commander in Chief and what he's done, anything positive come from that?. :confused:

Here's the bottom line brother: If you were a child molestor, would you prefer to be quietly arrested in a fairly discreet manor or would you rather it be on public television for the world to see and have your friends and family download it all day on youtube and rewind and play it back in slow motion?. I hear what you are saying but I believe there is some good coming out of show like this. Money makes the world go round. Sure someone is taking a tradgedy and profiting from it but as long as there is something positive coming from it, I'm all for it. Hell, look at our Commander in Chief and what he's done, anything positive come from that?. :confused:

I suppose that is one way to look at it, but I guess I'd just rather avoid it altogether and watch Ice Road Truckers instead :p

Here's the bottom line brother: If you were a child molestor, would you prefer to be quietly arrested in a fairly discreet manor or would you rather it be on public television for the world to see and have your friends and family download it all day on youtube and rewind and play it back in slow motion?. I hear what you are saying but I believe there is some good coming out of show like this. Money makes the world go round. Sure someone is taking a tradgedy and profiting from it but as long as there is something positive coming from it, I'm all for it. Hell, look at our Commander in Chief and what he's done, anything positive come from that?. :confused:

Well here's the bottom line to that: What if they arrest the guy and later find they messed up and it wasn't him... The poor guy's name has been plastered all over the media and even if found not guilty or released he will forever be eyed with suspicion. Those wonderful "there's no smoke without fire" folks.

Trial by media needs to stop. The media should be forbidden from naming or showing any suspect until they have been in court and found guilty. Until they have been confirmed guilty the public do not need to know anything about it.

Over the years it has gotten more and more out of hand.

If I ever got arrested for anything and then released I would sue every single media outlet that covered it for defamation of character.

Well here's the bottom line to that: What if they arrest the guy and later find they messed up and it wasn't him... If I ever got arrested for anything and then released I would sue every single media outlet that covered it for defamation of character.

Ummmm, the arrest is on TV. I don't think there's a chance that they "messed up and it wasn't him." :lol: Oh, and you can sue anyone you want for anything in the good ole' USA. :thumbsup:

Well here's the bottom line to that: What if they arrest the guy and later find they messed up and it wasn't him... The poor guy's name has been plastered all over the media and even if found not guilty or released he will forever be eyed with suspicion. Those wonderful "there's no smoke without fire" folks.

Have you ever watched the show? They have chat logs of these creepy sickos telling (what they think) is a 13 year old girl about all the sexual things they're going to do to them, as well as sending pictures of their junk or masturbating on webcam. :ack:

If you think that chat logs filled with promises of sexual acts and pictures of a guy's tool, followed by the guy driving to the house, seeing the underage girl and then walking in and sitting down with a pocket full of condoms is just "smoke", then I guess you can consider me one of the wonderful "where there's smoke, there's fire" people.

I'd prefer we put a bullet in their head, but if all we can do is lock them up then I guess it'll have to do.

I haven't seen the show (I'm in the UK) but the problem is worldwide.

I just know that about a year ago some guy in the UK got arrested for something similar and they tracked him down via his ISP (because obviously his IP address is logged) and arrested him.
After a few months a computer forensic expert who had been examining the guys computers and so on discovered that none of the stuff had been done by him, rather someone had logged onto his wireless network and used his net connection to do the stuff in question. Naturally his release was either not mentioned, or only a footnote article in the media.

You can be arrested for something and it can turn out later to be a mistake.
The point is that the media should not be involved at this stage. It's downright unethical.
Obviously if someone is caught "red handed" it's somewhat different, but I still don't agree with the media covering it, they're not doing it to protect the kids or help spread the word of the danger, they're doing it for ratings to draw in advertising dollars.

The guys are arrested after walking into the house. They have no reason to be at the house other than to have sex with the (supposedly) 13 year old girl they met on-line. Chat logs with pictures of their junk and promises of sexual acts, as well as a pocket full of condoms qualifies as "Red handed". NBC is not going to these guys houses to arrest them- the pervs are coming to NBCs "trap" house thinking they're going to have sex with a 13 year old.

I agree 100% with your concern over using IPs to assume guilt, since someone else might have logged onto their computer, but I think we can both agree that once the man actually drives to a remote house (sometimes 8 or 10 hours away), all reasonable doubt of guilt goes out the window.

Every TV show is for ratings and money, but I'd rather see them making ratings and money arresting pedophiles than covering Paris Hilton's new handbag.

People will get convicted?
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/090707dnmetmurphy.2dba97d.html

Take a look

Dateline's show said that 200 indictments have resulted from its "To Catch a Predator" investigations and that 120 defendants have been convicted.200 != 120

Some may still be pending, while others had good lawyers. A few of the people indicted in the Polk County sting I mentioned earlier in the thread committed suicide weeks after being caught trying to rendezvous with a 13 year old for sex. Good riddance.

I recall also reading that a bunch of them got thrown out by some judge because the sting was carried out by NBC and not completely by law enforcement.

Here it is:

http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2007/jun/01/murphysi-catch-predatori-cases-canned-collin-count/

Entrapment I suppose since the perverted justice people were involved.

I agree the guy is a douche and I despise that low brow show.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v305/rolex/winjb_1.gif

I don't mind if the child molesters die or rot in jail forever. Same diff to me.

Oh come on...come on....come on......DAMNIT!

It gets me every time! :histeric:

I recall also reading that a bunch of them got thrown out by some judge because the sting was carried out by NBC and not completely by law enforcement.

Exactly. So NBC made their money and 40% of the pervs got a free ride AND protection from the court. Good work NBC.

But hey, they won't reoffend now!.... Right.

Eh, I could find dozens of shows I'd rather see off the air than Predator and others he hosts. As a father of 2 young kids, I appreciate what the show stands for. Besides the pervs caught on tape, there's also a whole lot of would-be's that might not take the chance for fear of being on the show. We all have our opinion, I dont get offended by Hansen. I know how things work and when something gets too popular it just becomes cool to hate it. :cool2::duck:

I actually like watching TCAP, I like to think about all the *******s I've met in life being on there... :sneaky: :lildevil:

Well when you consider it from the point of view as a parent too, all bets are off with these perps. I certainly won't argue with that.

Rolex -- ROFL at that picture !!

I don't mind watching TCAP -- most of the guys on there have to be drunk, stoned, or have some kind of retardation or insanity. The rest are just plain stupid. They all deserve what they get.

Wasn't there some DA in the outskirts of Dallas that got hung up in the thing and then went back and killed himself (right idea there...) and then his family sued or something? I'd have left him at the coroner's office...forget filing a suit....

The all time fave though was that troll in one of the early episodes that while the "little girl" was going up to get the laundry or whatever the ploy is -- he strips bare ass naked waiting to come back down -- to then find "what's his name" coming out w/a microphone in one hand and a towel in the other to cover the perv up with. That was a CLASSIC.

And then they caught him again at a McDonald's the next day at the playground. :eek:

Somebody around here caught a glimpse of a guy exposing himself out the window to kids that were on their way to school. The police were called which attracted a bunch of attention and pretty soon there was a fair sized crowd. A kid walked up and asked what was going on. When he was told about the "strange" man he said, "He's been doing that for years. Nobody pays any attention to him anymore".
True story.

Somebody around here caught a glimpse of a guy exposing himself out the window to kids that were on their way to school. The police were called which attracted a bunch of attention and pretty soon there was a fair sized crowd. A kid walked up and asked what was going on. When he was told about the "strange" man he said, "He's been doing that for years. Nobody pays any attention to him anymore".
True story.

That is hilarious.

When I was a junior in high school, I'd heard a story about some sophomore boys flashing a girl their age as an elementary school bus, full of kids, drove by (much to their chagrin) . They got in some pretty deep shit for that one lol.