To Catch a Predator is a television program designed to catch adults trying to have sex with children below the age of 16. People were lured to meet with a decoy under the pretense of sexual contact and then confronted. Show host Chris Hansen clarified in an interview with NPR News that these subjects should be labeled as potential sexual predators, and not pedophiles. "Pedophiles have a very specific definition, people who are interested in prepubescent sex," he stated.[1]
The series premiered in November 2004, and featured 12 investigations in total held across the United States. The investigations were conducted as undercoversting operations with the help of on-line watchdog groupPerverted-Justice. Since the third installment, law enforcement and other officials were also involved, leading to the arrests of most individuals caught. No new episodes have aired since December 2007.
Rockwall County, Texas assistant district attorney Louis Conradt was caught sending pictures and messages to who he thought was a 13-year-old boy but was decoy from Perverted-Justice. When they tried to do a search warrant to his house, Conradt would commit suicide by shooting himself while the police and NBC crew were entering his house. The show would be cancelled afterwards.[2][3]
