siamese dream
02-08-2006, 10:34 AM
Has anyone watched the "Catching a predator" stories on Dateline where they have volunteers from a site called perverted-justice.com pretend to be 12 and 13 year old boys/girls, chat to guys about sexual encounters online, set up meetings and then they bust them in a house that's been rigged with dozens of hidden cameras? I saw the third installment of this the other night, I only caught part of the first one and missed the second one. It's pretty surprising how many guys showed up each time, on the last show they even had one driving by the house as another guy was getting arrested on the front lawn! And he came back!!
This is crazy weird and I've heard a lot of opinions, ranging from "this type of thing should be done in every major city" to people saying it's a form of entrapment. But the thing that gets me is just the sheer amount of response and guys they get to actually come to this house.. over 50 of them on the last show. Ranging in age from early 20s to over 60...black, white, married, single, etc. The only commanality is the internet - and that they're male. The most interesting question I think came at the end of the last show..."Are there any women doing the same thing?" Dateline's answer was that they have had no women involved in this sort of predatory behavior.
This brings to mind a lot of questions about sexuality and male/female in general...Are guys just plain more prone to have unusual sexual interests than women? Are they more prone to sexual abuse and pedophilia? If so, why? Perhaps the dateline investigation is slanted though; I do know for a fact there are female sexual abusers, one was charged a few years ago at a state hospital near my house for sexually abusing a mentally retarded person. Maybe female abusers are more prone to abuse someone close to them, as opposed to seeking out strangers on the internet?
Just interested if anyone else had seen these programs and had any opinions or thoughts.
This is crazy weird and I've heard a lot of opinions, ranging from "this type of thing should be done in every major city" to people saying it's a form of entrapment. But the thing that gets me is just the sheer amount of response and guys they get to actually come to this house.. over 50 of them on the last show. Ranging in age from early 20s to over 60...black, white, married, single, etc. The only commanality is the internet - and that they're male. The most interesting question I think came at the end of the last show..."Are there any women doing the same thing?" Dateline's answer was that they have had no women involved in this sort of predatory behavior.
This brings to mind a lot of questions about sexuality and male/female in general...Are guys just plain more prone to have unusual sexual interests than women? Are they more prone to sexual abuse and pedophilia? If so, why? Perhaps the dateline investigation is slanted though; I do know for a fact there are female sexual abusers, one was charged a few years ago at a state hospital near my house for sexually abusing a mentally retarded person. Maybe female abusers are more prone to abuse someone close to them, as opposed to seeking out strangers on the internet?
Just interested if anyone else had seen these programs and had any opinions or thoughts.