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NBC Settles “To Catch a Predator” Lawsuit
26-Jun-2008
Written by: Nicole Cassaro
The family of a man who committed suicide after being busted for online sex recieves money in a settlement with NBC Universal.
Admit it, you just adore watching those
MSNBC marathons of To Catch a Predator.
You know, that show where host Chris Hansen springs a trap uncovering pedophiles. The show has been airing on the TV newsmagazine, Dateline NBC, since 2004, with MSNBC, the network's sister channel faithfully running rerun episodes. So, why are we so eager to watch these TV takedowns?
The show follows a simple format. Adults from a group called Perverted Justice pretend to be children online to attract men soliciting sex. A meeting is arranged at a house riddled with hidden cameras and with police hiding typically in the garage. When the predator arrives, usually with a case of beer, instead of sex with a minor, he gets Chris Hansen asking him his intentions. Sometimes the predators confess, sometimes they outright deny they were looking for sex. This is when Hansen whips out the printed version of the online chat and reads certain incriminating passages. Finally, the man is asked to leave. When he does this, he is apprehended by law. America looks on with twisted fascination through our TV screens.
Recently, Louis, W. Conradt, Jr., a predator caught from this show committed suicide. He shot himself in the head after criminal investigators brought an NBC camera crew to his house on a sting for online sex. His family filed a lawsuit against NBC for $105 million.
Patricia Conradt, his sister, told the Los Angeles Times that the network is "concerned more with its own profits than with pedophilia."
NBC Universal has settled the lawsuit, but refused to disclose the amount it paid to the family, according to the New York Times.
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