Dateline NBC is back again with it’s fourth installment of exposing online child predators. “To Catch a Predator IV” began its four-part run on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 on NBC. You can catch the rest of the series each of the next three Wednesdays, beginning on May 3, 2006 at 9:00 p.m. ET. Go to Dateline’s Web site for a re-cap on previous investigations.
Two years ago, Dateline began a series of investigations they call, “To Catch a Predator.” With help from local law enforcement and Perverted-Justice.com, Chris Hansen leads the investigations to expose adults trolling the Internet looking for sex with underage children. By the end of the third investigation, almost 90 men, in three different states, have been exposed. Each man set up a sexual rendezvous with what they though was an underage teenager, home alone for the evening. After meeting Chris Hansen and his Dateline crew, the men were met by law enforcement officials and booked for questioning.
The first three investigations took place near large metropolitan areas: New York City, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles. This time, however, the team sets up shop in a rural Ohio town with a total population under 15,000. The purpose is to see if Internet predators only loom in big, metropolitan cities. The results from this investigation are just as shocking as the previous three investigations. After chatting online for hours, man after man show up at an undercover house where each one thinks he is there to meet an underage girl, who is home alone, for sex.
The incidents of Internet child predators are really becoming a national epidemic. From lax state and federal laws to naive teens and parents, too many children and teens become targets for these sick and twisted adults. It may seem that Dateline NBC just keeps repeating the same message (which they are), but there is a good reason why. There are still teens and parents who have no idea about the dangers of the Internet. They are oblivious that actions they are taking as well as actions the do not take put children in harms way.
It is evident from the Dateline specials that child sexual predators will stop at no cost. A number of men in the recent investigations have seen the Dateline specials before, yet continue to troll the Internet looking for underage sex. Some of the men say they had uneasy feelings that they were walking into a sting operation, but continued to drive to the house they thought contained an underage girl, waiting for a “good time.”
It’s time that we as adults, parents, and community members take a stand against child predators. Start by making the Internet experience for you and your children as safe as possible. Then contact local, state, and federal civil leaders and express your concern for this epidemic, asking what can be done at a legal level. Tell your friends and neighbors about the dangers of the Internet, and don’t ever think, “It’ll never happen to someone I know and love.”
Keep checking back regularly to Families.com and this blog for tips about how to keep your family safe while browsing the Internet.