Chris Hansen says Florida sting drew 58 suspects in six days
"Megan, uh last month we did a sting in Marion County, Florida, near Ocala. 58 guys showed up in 6 days, including a second-grade school teacher who was here on a work permit from Jamaica, who was also a children's author."
About this episode
Megyn Kelly interviews journalist and TV presenter Chris Hansen about his years at NBC and the making of To Catch a Predator, which he says ran roughly from 2004 until just before 2008. Hansen describes how NBC initially compressed large-scale operations into one-hour Dateline segments, and contrasts that with today’s case-by-case streaming format.
Hansen makes specific claims about the scale and nature of recent child-predator stings conducted for his current work. He says a recent operation in Marion County, Florida, near Ocala, saw 58 suspects show up over six days, including what he describes as a second-grade teacher and children’s author. He also recounts an alleged case in which a suspect believed he was arranging abuse involving two boys aged seven and 14, and says the man later admitted the plan in an interview.
Hansen says he once expected public awareness of the show to deter suspects, but claims that even after participants recognised him, men continued to arrive at the meeting locations. He adds that he has continued producing similar investigations, saying his network has made hundreds of episodes in recent years.
The clip ends with a channel subscribe prompt and a paid advertisement for gold investment services.
Key takeaways
- Hansen says he worked 21 years at NBC and became a Dateline correspondent after a short-lived Brokaw/Couric programme merged into Dateline.
- He says To Catch a Predator ran for about four years, from 2004 to just before 2008.
- Hansen claims a Marion County, Florida sting last month drew 58 suspects in six days, including a second-grade teacher and children’s author.
- He recounts an alleged case involving a suspect who believed he was arranging abuse of two boys aged seven and 14.
- Hansen says suspects continued showing up even after the programme became widely known and some participants told him they had seen the show.
- He says his current streaming operation has produced 250 episodes over the last four years.