Journalist Chris Hansen rose to incredible heights of fame thanks to his tenure on NBC's Dateline and his To Catch A Predator series. For those too young to remember, during the mid-00s and era of America Online chat rooms and Myspace, Chris Hansen did a series of exposes where he and the watchdog group Perverted Justice would set up sting operations and catch sexual predators who were trying to groom young women and boys for sex.
The series was a smash hit and instantly made Chris Hansen world-famous and a hero to many. But, it was not all that it seemed. While any decent person can get behind a show that helps rid the world of perverts and pedophiles, there was an untold dark side to the show. Ever since that dark side was revealed, Chris Hansen has fallen on hard times. This is the story of the rise and fall of Perverted Justice, To Catch A Predator, and Chris Hansen.
8 'To Catch A Predator' Was A Surprise Hit
When Chris Hansen first did his exposé about online predators it was not expected to be a huge hit. But audiences were captivated by the variety of men caught in the act and the reactions Hansen got on camera when he exposed these men made for great television. What audiences were most enthralled by were the interviews, for some reason even though the men knew they were about to be arrested they sat down and spoke with Hansen. The first episode was a one-off thing, but soon Dateline ordered a series of installments.
7 Chris Hansen Blew Up Into A Household Name Thanks To 'Dateline'
Chris Hansen and Perverted Justice toured the country working with various local police departments to set up stings and catch predators who used the internet to set up dates with minors, who were actually Perverted Justice members posing as minors. The show led to the arrest of several predators and the show conducted seven different investigations between 2004 - 2007. Hansen’s interview style became so iconic that he even did a cameo as himself on an episode of 30 Rock.
6 Chris Hansen Wrote A Successful Book And 'To Catch A (Blank)' Became A New Format
In 2007, Hansen wrote the book To Catch a Predator: Protecting Your Children from Online Enemies Already in Your Home. In addition to the success of the book and show, Dateline started to adopt the sting investigation show format that Hansen had created and a slew of spin-off series ensued. For example, Dateline also launched To Catch A Con Man, To Catch An ID Thief, and To Catch A Carjacker, among several other true crime exposé series.
5 'To Catch A Predator' Was Not All That It Seemed
While the show earned the praise of child advocates and parents across the country, there was a dark side to the show that when it was revealed damaged both Chris Hansen and Dateline's reputations. For one thing, most of the men who were arrested during the show's investigations did not do very much jail time, if any at all, because they did not technically commit any sex acts. However, most of the men were forced to register as sex offenders for life. But despite that fact, many prosecutors still struggled to make the case that these stings were not acts of entrapment. It is illegal to trick someone into committing a crime that they would normally not commit, and that was a big oversight in Perverted Justice’s tactic of initiating contact with targets.
4 The Controversy Of The Texas Incident
During an investigation in Murphy, Texas, an assistant district attorney was implicated. In a botched attempt to arrest the man and get an interview, the prosecutor shot himself as the show was being taped. Texas prosecutors were furious with Hansen and local authorities because not only was the suicide a horrific development, it revealed that Hansen, police, and Perverted Justice had flagrantly ignored proper procedure that could have assured the man's arrest. Because the investigation in Texas was so botched, the state had no choice but to dismiss charges against all the men they caught in that sting.
3 Chris Hansen's Watchdog Group Was Caught In Several Scandals
After the Texas fiasco, the sweater just began to unravel as investigations into the show pulled thread after thread. 20/20 did an exposé on Dateline and revealed that Perverted Justice's tactics might actually be making the presence of online predators worse, not better, because it was teaching predators how to hide better. Some prosecutors also pointed out that the group was not trained the same way as law enforcement, and that the entrapment defense used by their arrestees was validated by the fact that Perverted Justice decoys often initiated contact with targets. It was also revealed that Perverted Justice had ulterior motives to work with NBC because the group was receiving financial incentives from the network that prosecutors and child advocacy groups say damaged the strength of their cases. To Catch A Predator was canceled in 2008 after the Texas investigation and Perverted Justice ended decoy operations in 2019.
2 Chris Hansen Eventually Got Another Show
Chris Hansen launched a Kickstarter in 2015 in an attempt to bring back the series. Then in 2016, he became the host of Crime Watch Daily and started a regular segment on the show called Hansen Vs. Predator. While Chris Hansen seemed like he was recovering from his fall from grace after Dateline, it was not meant to be.
1 Chris Hansen was Arrested In 2019
The saga of the rise and fall of Chris Hansen finally came to a close when Hansen was arrested in early 2019. Hansen wrote a bad check to a company that he hired to make merchandise for his Hansen Vs. Predator segments. The check from 2017 was never honored and Hansen had no choice but to surrender to authorities. He now does a YouTube series, Have A Seat With Chris Hansen, but ever since his arrest Chris Hansen has struggled to restore his career and his public image.