Hansen: Show Has Raised Awareness
By ANNE HOLLIDAY
WESB/WBRR News Director
Chris Hansen says the 12 "To Catch a Predator" segments he's done on "Dateline: NBC" have helped to raise awareness about child sexual abuse and open up a dialog.
He says keeping children safe online comes down to parents and children being open.
"The best defense is what you teach your kids at home," Hansen said.
Hansen was the keynote speaker during commencement exercises at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford on Sunday. Prior to that, he spoke with local media about a variety of topics, including "To Catch a Predator."
He talked about speaking to a group of high school students and asking how many of them had experienced "uncomfortable" contact with someone they met online. Eighty percent of them said they had, but none of them told their parents. They said they were afraid if they told their parents their computers would be taken away.
Hansen said that's why it's important for parents to talk to children and explain that they're "not going to punish the victim."
As for the predators who have been caught, Hansen said, "You have a tendency to feel sorry for them, but then you go back and read the transcript (of their online chats)."
He also talked about the men who, in their chats, write that they don't want to end up on the show.
He says it shows the impact of the show but if they wind up at the house wired with cameras and microphones anyway, it shows they've developed compulsions that can only be satisfied with a face-to-face meeting with a child.
He says he's come across three main groups of men:
The "younger guys," who are opportunists and figure there's not that much of an age difference between themselves and a teenager so "it's really not that bad."
The "hard core guys who are wired that way." Those men, he says, are the people lurking around playgrounds and movies theaters.
Finally, the men who wouldn't be doing it if not for the Internet. They like the anonymity, get excited about the potential for a meeting with a child, then take it one step further.
So far, 140 men have pleaded guilty to or been convicted of sex crimes thanks to the show. Their sentences range from probation to 14 years in prison.
While Hansen is probably best known for "To Catch a Predator," he has won several Emmy Awards for his reporting, including two for a report on child sex trafficking in Cambodia for which he went undercover in a dramatic mission to rescue some of the children.
Pictured, Chris Hansen speaks with Marcie Schellhammer of The Bradford Era and Anne Holliday of WESB/WBRR prior to Pitt-Bradford's commencement exercises.
WESB/WBRR News Director
Chris Hansen says the 12 "To Catch a Predator" segments he's done on "Dateline: NBC" have helped to raise awareness about child sexual abuse and open up a dialog.
He says keeping children safe online comes down to parents and children being open.
"The best defense is what you teach your kids at home," Hansen said.
Hansen was the keynote speaker during commencement exercises at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford on Sunday. Prior to that, he spoke with local media about a variety of topics, including "To Catch a Predator."
He talked about speaking to a group of high school students and asking how many of them had experienced "uncomfortable" contact with someone they met online. Eighty percent of them said they had, but none of them told their parents. They said they were afraid if they told their parents their computers would be taken away.
Hansen said that's why it's important for parents to talk to children and explain that they're "not going to punish the victim."
As for the predators who have been caught, Hansen said, "You have a tendency to feel sorry for them, but then you go back and read the transcript (of their online chats)."
He also talked about the men who, in their chats, write that they don't want to end up on the show.
He says it shows the impact of the show but if they wind up at the house wired with cameras and microphones anyway, it shows they've developed compulsions that can only be satisfied with a face-to-face meeting with a child.
He says he's come across three main groups of men:
The "younger guys," who are opportunists and figure there's not that much of an age difference between themselves and a teenager so "it's really not that bad."
The "hard core guys who are wired that way." Those men, he says, are the people lurking around playgrounds and movies theaters.
Finally, the men who wouldn't be doing it if not for the Internet. They like the anonymity, get excited about the potential for a meeting with a child, then take it one step further.
So far, 140 men have pleaded guilty to or been convicted of sex crimes thanks to the show. Their sentences range from probation to 14 years in prison.
While Hansen is probably best known for "To Catch a Predator," he has won several Emmy Awards for his reporting, including two for a report on child sex trafficking in Cambodia for which he went undercover in a dramatic mission to rescue some of the children.
Pictured, Chris Hansen speaks with Marcie Schellhammer of The Bradford Era and Anne Holliday of WESB/WBRR prior to Pitt-Bradford's commencement exercises.
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