Poll of the Day > Do you like this person: Chris Hansen

(+) Yeah! (+)

Chris Evans: 82.14%
Chris Hardwick: 48.76%
Chris Brown: 3.85%

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hansen

He's seems clever and amusing, especially when dealing with the perverts on to catch a predator, but other times he seems bland and smug. Take a seat over there, is a classic catchphrase.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ2Xe4xrNi4" data-time="

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxKYxzlqLOs" data-time="
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yes he always has a seat over there for me. it's very polite.
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I think he's doing entrapment. and he got a guy killed once. I get what he's trying to do but I think it's the wrong way to go about it. and the show is more about entertainment than true justice.

Zikten posted...

and he got a guy killed once.

that guy killed himself though
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He profits off the persecution of my people
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Jen0125 posted...

Zikten posted...

and he got a guy killed once.

that guy killed himself though

As a direct result of Chris Hansen exposing him. Not defending the molester but he isn't much better.

And since it's still early in the topic might as well trow out a pedophile=\=child molester.
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No... Isn't he some sort of predator who lures people to his house under false pretenses?
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SKARDAVNELNATE posted...

No... Isn't he some sort of predator who lures people to his house under false pretenses?

Exactly. If he did what he does to literally any other group he would be in jail.
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TheOrangeMisfit posted...

Take a seat over there, is a classic catchphrase.

Because of South Park.
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So I get the feeling TC's going to go through all the Chris's first then?
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Why am I not surprised we have people here that dislike a guy that outed dozens of pedophiles that were ready and willing to act on their sick fantasies?

You guys realize that this wasn't entrapment, right? They went into chatrooms making a decoy account that clearly stated they were a child and they NEVER initiated any conversations or any sexual references.

That means that these people:
1. Consciously chose to send a message to someone that had made it clear in advance that they were a child.
2. Initiated sexual conversations with someone they thought was a child.
3. Suggested meeting in person for the explicitly stated (by them) purpose of having sex.
4. Actually fucking GOING to the house.

And some of you guys are sympathizing with them?

Chris Hansen is an awesome human being and it is highly likely that among the many pedophiles he busted that one of them would have inevitably actually abused a real child eventually.
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Zikten posted...

I think he's doing entrapment. and he got a guy killed once. I get what he's trying to do but I think it's the wrong way to go about it. and the show is more about entertainment than true justice.

Entrapment is when law enforcement coerces someone into committing a crime they otherwise would not commit. That's a very different situation than To Catch a Predator.
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faramir77 posted...

They went into chatrooms making a decoy account that clearly stated they were a child and they NEVER initiated any conversations or any sexual references.

See, that's the part that isn't clear. My understanding is that they were looking for perverts. Then when they find some tell them where to meet. If they just went online and acted like normal people with a healthy sense of privacy then they wouldn't have a show.
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faramir77 posted...

You guys realize that this wasn't entrapment, right?

It's literally the definition of the word. "Caught in a trap".

They have groups here called Creep Catchers doing the same thing. The leader of the Surrey group pled guilty to two counts of assault because of the nature of what he's doing. He gets people attacked all the time, and there are proper, legal ways of going about it, which these people don't go about.

One main reason is that they're creating a situation that isn't there and actually presenting it to these people, many of which wouldn't go out of their way to look for one in the first place.

Imo it should be illegal for someone underage to solicit themselves at the same level it's illegal for an adult to solicit them.
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TES_Nut posted...

Jen0125 posted...

Zikten posted...

and he got a guy killed once.

that guy killed himself though

As a direct result of Chris Hansen exposing him. Not defending the molester but he isn't much better.

And since it's still early in the topic might as well trow out a pedophile=\=child molester.

Keep in mind after the first season there was direct police involvement. So it was the police and a bunch of vigilantes called Perverted Justice doing the actual sting and Chris Hansen and Dateline were filming it and having Hansen be the face of it.

Perverted Justice was chatting with and exposing men and the occasional women before Chris Hansen and Dateline ever came into the picture.

If anyone is responsible for the man's suicide it is the police who made the decision to go to the man's house because of his position in the city or local government even though he didn't go to the decoy house. That had nothing to do with Chris Hansen or Dateline. They didn't make that call.
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No, he was profiteering on what amounted to entrapment. Same as shows like trap car, etc (although I loved the clip where a kid knew it was the trap car and took it for a joyride anyway). Even cops -- which doesn't involve entrapment -- is still pretty fucked up for both profiting off this shit and helping hardcore offenders find ways to beat the system.

Also, once again posting the MadTV skit, which one of my favorites from the show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUcw7XIWISI" data-time="

The same character was also used in at least two other skits (also hilarious), where he'd incriminate himself while reporting crimes.

TES_Nut posted...

As a direct result of Chris Hansen exposing him. Not defending the molester but he isn't much better.

And since it's still early in the topic might as well trow out a pedophile=\=child molester.

It's weird that you'd draw a distinction there but call somebody who hadn't molested anybody a molester.

faramir77 posted...

Why am I not surprised we have people here that dislike a guy that outed dozens of pedophiles that were ready and willing to act on their sick fantasies?

You guys realize that this wasn't entrapment, right? They went into chatrooms making a decoy account that clearly stated they were a child and they NEVER initiated any conversations or any sexual references.

Still entrapment. They entered chatrooms under false pretenses and lied about their identities specifically to trap suspects. And, in some cases, the variable AoC laws from state to state likely confused at least some of the perps considering that 16 and 17 is legal in some places but not others. More importantly, most of these guys had no priors and, as such, were unlikely to have actually managed to get that far with a real girl. And the way the system was set up it wasn't geared to catch the egregious offenders who would lie about their ages (claiming to be a minor), etc.

faramir77 posted...

4. Actually fucking GOING to the house.

Except they didn't actually need to go into the house to be arrested. If they skipped the meet-up or decided to just drive past because they had last second thoughts, the cops *still* went after them.

faramir77 posted...

And some of you guys are sympathizing with them?

Considering that the false ages were often 16 or 17 -- which is the AoC throughout most developed nations -- I'm not sure how much luck you'll have trying to get people outraged over this. (In fact, the only people really outraged are the same group that would be outraged if it was an 18 y/o with an older male.) However, even if the false ages were younger, that's still literally entrapment. For the most part, it's just catching people who would have probably never done any otherwise. So it really comes down to whether you believe in proactive policing measures which, generally speaking, are pretty fucked up and a clear civil liberties violation.
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SKARDAVNELNATE posted...

faramir77 posted...

They went into chatrooms making a decoy account that clearly stated they were a child and they NEVER initiated any conversations or any sexual references.

See, that's the part that isn't clear. My understanding is that they were looking for perverts. Then when they find some tell them where to meet. If they just went online and acted like normal people with a healthy sense of privacy then they wouldn't have a show.

They made it very clear in the show. They said that all they did was make a visible profile of an underage person. The people that contacted them were not previously contacted.

zebatov posted...

It's literally the definition of the word. "Caught in a trap".

The definition in criminal law is different than the colloquial definition. Entrapment is where police provoke or induce someone into committing a crime. The act of simply pretending to be a child on the internet is not entrapment. It would be entrapment if they had initiated sexual conversations with strangers.

zebatov posted...

Imo it should be illegal for someone underage to solicit themselves at the same level it's illegal for an adult to solicit them.

It possibly is. Everyone involved in that show, including the "kids", were adults. They hired young looking adult actors for the purpose of sharing photos/appearing in the decoy house.
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I see its becoming a recurring theme for PotD to defend pedophiles
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Zeus posted...

Still entrapment.

No, for the reasons I've stated before. Everyone caught on the show was given a chance to defend themselves in court. The entrapment defence never worked.

Zeus posted...

were unlikely to have actually managed to get that far with a real girl

So because they were less likely to be able to smooth talk a child, this makes their behaviour less concerning somehow?

Zeus posted...

Except they didn't actually need to go into the house to be arrested. If they skipped the meet-up or decided to just drive past because they had last second thoughts, the cops *still* went after them.

The other three steps prior to that aren't damning enough?

Zeus posted...

Considering that the false ages were often 16 or 17

This is flat out not true. If it were, there wouldn't be an issue. Find one example where it was and I'll concede. In this video at 3:46, they claim they pose between the ages of 12 and 15, which is illegal everywhere in the US and is extremely concerning behaviour for an adult to be pursuing someone that age.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Svr5KflM8dk" data-time="
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faramir77 posted...

it is highly likely that among the many pedophiles he busted that one of them would have inevitably actually abused a real child eventually.

I think you're assuming something that isn't supported by the evidence.
1) They are being lured somewhere. Since they are willing to go out of their way it suggests they do not have someone more convenient that they can engage with.
2) As far as they know the person they are talking to is a willing participant. They may not have regard for consent laws but they aren't violent or abusive either. Given consent is a component of the lure.

Zeus posted...

Considering that the false ages were often 16 or 17

I hadn't even thought of that. Federal law in the US places AoC at 18 and is applied when there is travel between states. Otherwise each state has it's own regulations. For half the states someone who is 16 is legally recognized as being able to consent to anyone. So what these people are being charged with may not even be illegal depending on where they were lured to and the distance traveled.

faramir77 posted...

And some of you guys are sympathizing with them?

Not exactly. It's possible to be incensed that the legal system is being misused just as much as it is possible to be incensed when someone has gotten away with something. In this case I'm not entirely convinced that a crime was committed and it's the side of law enforcement that appears to have greater culpability for these events. Then there's that smug bastard profiting from it by getting a boost to his career.

faramir77 posted...

The people that contacted them were not previously contacted.

Which of them suggested meeting up? And who decided on the location they would meet?
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faramir77 posted...

It possibly is. Everyone involved in that show, including the "kids", were adults. They hired young looking adult actors for the purpose of sharing photos/appearing in the decoy house.

If it were, then Perverted Justice should have been cited/charged for soliciting sex to an adult male with a fictitious underage person. Just as the adult male would be charged for showing up to meet a fictitious underage person.
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faramir77 posted...

No, for the reasons I've stated before. Everyone caught on the show was given a chance to defend themselves in court. The entrapment defence never worked.

The fact that the courts are permissive towards police misconduct doesn't mean that misconduct doesn't occur. Unless the argument is that a third-party actually did the entrapping, although that *still* seems like a massive civil rights violation.

faramir77 posted...

So because they were less likely to be able to smooth talk a child, this makes their behaviour less concerning somehow?

The fact that they wouldn't have been able to get that far and therefore cause no harm is a pretty huge consideration, as you're locking up people over a non-offense. So if you're more concerned with locking up people for being willing to commit a crime should the stars impossibly line up correctly rather than because they're an actual threat, mission accomplished.

faramir77 posted...

The other three steps prior to that aren't damning enough?

They're completely different charges so... duh?
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Yes, "To Catch a Predator" was great. The uncut interviews you can find on YouTube are even better, though.

A lot of people here clearly do not understand entrapment. Go use the Google-machine and do some reading, TCAP was definitely not entrapment. All the chat logs are recorded and published by Perverted Justice, you can clearly see how the predators initiate contact. If you actually read the dialogue and the timestamps, there are a lot of serious predators caught by the show. You can literally witness these people brushing off their age, which is clearly stated as 15 or under, and continue to pursue a sexual relationship with a minor. The show doesn't even scrape the top of how creepy these dudes really are.

Oh, and Perverted Justice has literally never used a 16 or 17-year-old as a decoy but don't let facts get in the way of a fun argument.

They are preying on an emotionally vulnerable segment of the populace, who are specifically targeted by entrapment laws. You cannot obscure this moral injustice with sophistry.
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Zeus posted...

Considering that the false ages were often 16 or 17 -- which is the AoC throughout most developed nations -- I'm not sure how much luck you'll have trying to get people outraged over this. (In fact, the only people really outraged are the same group that would be outraged if it was an 18 y/o with an older male.) However, even if the false ages were younger, that's still literally entrapment. For the most part, it's just catching people who would have probably never done any otherwise. So it really comes down to whether you believe in proactive policing measures which, generally speaking, are pretty fucked up and a clear civil liberties violation.

I don't think the show ever used decoys that were '16 or 17'. They were always 14 or younger.

And it's not entrapment because the decoys didn't initiate. You can read the transcripts. It's always the creepos asking them about sex and shit. The decoys were very careful about not being the initiators.

It's the same logic behind prostitution stings. I for one don't feel the slightest bit of pity for them.
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Ignoring the entrapment argument, has he really done anything else besides the Predator stuff? I know he has or is on a news site or something, but he seems like a guy who's only known for one thing.
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yeah idk what zeus is talking about with the 16/17 shit. perverted justice has never used a decoy that age. it's always 14 or younger. i think i've seen 15 a few times but not usually.
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