To Catch a Predator (partially found chatlogs, uncut interviews and police interrogations of Dateline NBC reality series; 2004-2007)
To Catch a Predator (also abbreviated to TCAP) is a hidden camera investigation series broadcast on the TV news program Dateline NBC from 2004-2007. The premise involved host Chris Hansen confronting adult men arriving at a stinghouse with the intent to have sex with underage teens, following an often-graphic online conversation with the child. In reality, the "minors" were adult decoys from the online watchdog group Perverted Justice, who would establish online profiles of underage individuals that would wait for adults to initiate a conversation with them. Twelve investigations were conducted, resulting in the arrests and convictions of the majority of men that arrived at the stinghouses. Since then, fans of the show have sought out the chatlogs, uncut Hansen interviews and uncut police interrogations involving these men, with these media being coveted among TCAP enthusiasts.
Background
Chatlogs are the first point of contact between a potential predator and a Perverted Justice decoy. Perverted Justice volunteers would create fake profiles pretending to be underage teens interested in sex, across multiple notable chatrooms, including MSN, AOL and Yahoo!, and wait for adults to contact them.[1] Upon receiving contact with a potential predator, the chatlogs are recorded, where most chats will swiftly turn towards meeting up for sex. Many of the predators would describe in graphic detail what they wanted to do with the decoys, while also sending pornographic pictures to them. The chatlogs were already enough to incriminate most predators, which depending on the state, could see them be charged with a misdemeanour or a felony.[2] In the first two stings for Dateline NBC, Perverted Justice immediately posted the chatlogs upon successful busts.
However, when police were involved from the Riverside sting onwards, the watchdog would only post chatlogs where a conviction was achieved, taking down all pre-2006 chats where convictions were not made as part of the Information First scheme.[3] Nevertheless, all chatlogs from Bethpage and Fairfax are accessible through Web Archive, while because most predators were ultimately convicted in the other stings, their chatlogs are still accessible on the Perverted Justice website to the present day. However, some chatlogs were never published, usually when an acquittal has occurred, while others were not published because some predators absconded prior to convictions.
After agreeing online to meet in person, the predator would then enter the stinghouse, only to be confronted by Chris Hansen. Often, the broadcast of the segment would be edited for the sake of brevity and for entertainment purposes. Nevertheless, uncut footage would sometimes be accessible. Most notably, most uncut Riverside and Ohio interviews were published on MSNBC, which was NBC's digital subscriber service.[4] While these clips can no longer be accessed on MSNBC, some have resurfaced on YouTube. Others remain missing as of the present day.
Finally, highlights of police interrogations were also shown in some broadcasts, often being the last piece of media featuring a highlighted predator. Of those that have been found, most originate from the Greenville, Flagler Beach and Bowling Green stings, and were obtained thanks to FOIA requests.[5] Whereas some clips from other stings were included in the television broadcasts, others, including Bethpage NY, have never been publicly released in any form.
Bethpage, New York
The first sting was conducted in May 2004, which saw 19 men show up over a period of three days.[6] Perverted Justice and Dateline NBC had not yet teamed with police to conduct a parallel investigation, and so all bar Ryan Hogan, a New York City Fire Department member, were not arrested following their busts. Hogan would later be arrested and convicted,[7] although his police interrogation video has never surfaced online. Another predator in this sting Matt Dooley aka Darkhero a paranoid schizophrenic guy was the only predator to not have their identity shown on tv and almost got charged. This was due to his past criminal history however he was given a deal where he could just go back to the mental institution and avoid charges which he did. Years later he would go on Joey's tcap channel in an interview and try to explain his appearance on the show but instead just rants about conspiracy theories. In 2021 Chris Hansen made a podcast revealing his last name and calling him the most dangerous predator he ever caught. No uncut Hansen confrontations have leaked, but because Perverted Justice published all chatlogs immediately following the sting, they are all accessible on archived versions of its website. Since this was datelines first sting with no police and some of these predators lived in the NYC area and is hard to do background checks their last names are unknown since there is very little public data except for Dooley and Hogan obviously as well as Steve Reddington the first predator ever caught by Chris Hansen and Musti Quotiza the second predator through background checks were they lived.
Predator | Chatlog | Podcast |
---|---|---|
Eddie | Found | No |
Craig | Found | No |
Esteban | Found | No |
Mike | Found | No |
Musti Quotiza | Found | No |
Steve Reddington | Found | No |
Matt "Darkhero" Dooley | Found | Yes |
Ryan Hogan | Found | No |
Unaired
Several men who were caught in the sting either never got a chance to be interviewed by Hansen due to another suspect already being interviewed, they were left unaired, or they did not show up to the sting house, although all of their chat logs are accessible.
Predator | Chatlog | Podcast |
---|---|---|
Alex | Found | No |
John | Found | No |
Paul | Found | No |
Anthony | Found | No |
Greg | Found | No |
Mike | Found | No |
Rich | Found | No |
Jason | Found | No |
Brian | Found | No |
Taylor | Found | No |
Ron | Found | No |
Fairfax, Virginia
The Fairfax, Virginia sting was conducted in November 2005. Over three days, another 19 men showed up. Among them include David Kaye, a Rabbi; Steven Bennof, a special education teacher; Dr. Jeffery Beck, an emergency room and pediatric doctor; Joe Wunderler, an Army Sergeant who also planned to commit bestiality on a dog; and John Kennelly, who not only entered the house naked but also set up another meeting with an underage boy a day later.
Controversy did arise, as Fairfax County police were reluctant to arrest any of the predators. However, pressure from Perverted Justice meant that the majority who were featured in the episode were charged and convicted.[8] With the exception of Doctor Beck since his chatlog was much less sexually explicit than the others but did have his medical license suspended and through medical board searches appears his license is still revoked to this day. However, the other predators with full segments were successfully charged along with two unaired predators. John Kennelly as well as an unaired predator Mark Baggette an extremely good-looking former football player and one of the runners seen at the beginning of the episode who like Kennelly showed up not once but twice and drunk the first time at the sting house. However, his sex offender registry has not been updated for years which may mean he was expunged of that charge. Aladdin Shamoun also was charged with the Fairfax police but he absconded presumably back to his native country Egypt to avoid an arrest and prosecution. The military also played a big role in arresting two predators from this sting Joe Wunderler and an unaired predator Dennis Thomas a navy engineer both of whom were convicted served time and are sex offenders to this day. Since Rabbi David Kaye and Steven Bennof crossed state/district lines and were high profiled people they also were charged and convicted by the FBI.
As before, all chatlogs were immediately posted on the Perverted Justice website and can be accessed through Web Archive links with the exception of unaired predator Harold Higley (who later got arrested and convicted for not in connection to the 2005 but a later sting in 2012) for reasons unknown. In addition, Rabbi David Kaye's uncut Hansen confrontation was uploaded to YouTube on October 30th, 2008, and currently remains as the only uncut Fairfax interview that is publicly accessible.
Fairfax/Washington D.C. full episode
Predator | Chatlog | Uncut Hansen Confrontation | Podcast |
---|---|---|---|
Aladdin Shamoun | Found | Lost | Yes |
Joe Wunderler | Found | Lost | Yes |
Steven Bennof | Found | Lost | Yes |
Dr. Jeffrey Beck | Found | Lost | Yes |
Rabbi David Kaye | Found | Found | No |
John Kennelly | Found (both chatlogs) | Lost (both encounters) | Yes |
Unaired
Several men who came to the sting house either only appeared in brief highlights were left completely unaired or did not stay for an interview. Although all uncut confrontations of these unaired suspects remain lost, almost all chat logs have been found, with the only exception being Harold Higley, who would later be arrested and sent to prison in 2012 following an unrelated sting where he tried once again to meet an underage girl for sex.
Predator | Chatlog | Uncut Hansen Confrontation | Podcast |
---|---|---|---|
Yonas Getachew | Found | Lost | No |
Mark Baggette | Found | Lost | Yes |
Dennis Thomas | Found | Lost | No |
Harold Higley | Lost | Lost | No |
Arpit "umbrella guy" Maheshwari | Found | Lost | No |
John Phillip Jarrell | Found | Lost | No |
Amir/Alex Ferahani | Found | Lost | No |
Timothy Andrew "Andy" Kane | Found | Lost | No |
Artie Makepeace | Found | Lost | No |
Sean/Kamphon Akkrawong | Found | Lost | No |
Evan Matthew Frank | Found | Lost | No |
Riverside, California
The Riverside, California sting was conducted in January 2006 and saw a record 51 men arrive at the house over three days. This was the first sting to feature direct police involvement and thus saw the arrests of 50 men. One was released without charge due to appearing alongside Sebastian Rodriguez. As it was the latter who initiated the chatlog, only he was charged and later convicted. Among notable predators featured in the Riverside, sting includes Walter Babst, a high school teacher; Daniel Allen, who was previously convicted of spousal abuse; Joseph Federico, who was previously convicted of manslaughter; as well as Chris Urban who came to the house high on meth and a few who were already registered sex offenders, including Robert Lyons, Jean Pierre Wehry, Gregory Karnos, and Thomas Bodnar.[9]
As the chatlogs were used in a pending police investigation, they would not be published unless a conviction was made. In all, 48 were convicted, with William Lawrence Havey having been found not guilty,[10] and Charles Harding having died in jail as a result of not taking his medication. The majority of chatlogs are accessible on Perverted Justice's website as of the present day, including Harding's as part of "Other Resolutions" seeing as he had neither been convicted nor acquitted.[11] However, the chatlogs of Kurt Lemke and Peter Christopher Moore remain inaccessible to this day, although the reason is unknown why, most likely due to them not being archived properly. Thomas Bodnar's actual chatlog from the sting is also missing for unclear reasons, but another encounter he had with PJ remains accessible through an archive version of the website. An archive link on the Wayback Machine has allowed for the original chat log to be successfully recovered. Jean Pierre Wehry's unique email conversation with the decoy was also not published but would be uploaded to YouTube by Joey's TCAP Channel on May 26th, 2017.
While no police interrogations are currently accessible, some uncut Hansen confrontations are viewable as they were included as part of the MSNBC subscription service, being uploaded to YouTube years later. In late 2015/early 2016, almost all To Catch a Predator content was purged from the platform by NBC filing copyright complaints. Although most of the material was re-uploaded years later, some have been taken down a second time due to YouTube's policy against harassment and bullying. Evidence through internet searches points out that Abraham Koujababian and Erik Pallesen's uncut interviews (and possibly others) were once available, but have been lost to this day.
Predator raw (Archive version)
Predator | Chatlog | Uncut Hansen Confrontation | Podcast |
---|---|---|---|
Kurt Lemke | Lost | Found | No |
Walter Babst | Found | Found | Yes |
Scott Smith | Found | Lost | No |
Jerry Griffitt | Found | Found | Yes |
Christopher Moore | Lost | Found | No |
Steven Coates | Found | Lost | Yes |
Daniel Pulido | Found | Found | Yes |
Keith Williams | Found | Found | Yes |
Erik Pallesen | Found | Lost | Yes |
Michael Burks | Found | N/A | No |
Sebastian Rodriguez | Found | Found | Yes |
Christopher Urban | Found | Lost | Yes |
Paul Constantinescu | Found | Lost | Yes |
Inderjeet Singh | Found | Lost | Yes |
Charles Harding | Found | Found | Yes |
Roberto Forte | Found | Found | No |
Abraham Koujababian | Found | Lost | No |
Daniel Allen | Found | Found | Yes |
Joseph Federico | Found | N/A | No |
Robert Lyons | Found | Found | Yes |
Jean Pierre Wehry | Found | Found | Yes |
Gregory Karnos | Found | Found | Yes |
Thomas Bodnar | Found | Found | Yes |
Unaired
In addition to the predators who were featured in the main televised broadcast, some uncut interviews of unfeatured men were published on MSNBC, which included Jerry Wayne-Martin Kosis, Danny Swinney and Eduardo Guillen. It is suspected thanks to analysing data from currently inaccessible Web Archive pages of MSNBC that additional uncut interviews featuring other unaired predators were indeed available, but have not resurfaced since.[12][13][14][15] Like with the aired predators, some of these interviews, such as the ones with Koujababian, Swinney and Corey Ahia, were deleted by YouTube due to changes in their policy, leaving them either completely lost once again or only partially recovered through their use in compilation videos created by fans, as is the case with Ahia and Nicolas Cocos. Audio from Ahia and Cocos' uncut interviews can also be sourced from Chris Hansen's Predators I've Caught podcast.
A decent amount of the unaired predators were waiting in their cars or walking towards the house and were arrested immediately just like Michael Burks' arrest, so they never had a Chris Hansen interview. Miguel Sosa also showed up a week late for the sting and therefore no interview for him exists either. As for chatlogs, all but Hyung Paek, Daryl Meledy and William Havey are accounted for, Paek having absconded prior to his trial, Havey beating his case, and Meledy for unknown reasons.
Predator | Chatlog | Uncut Hansen Confrontation | Podcast |
---|---|---|---|
Corey Ahia | Found | Partially Found | Yes |
Rafiullah Ahmadi | Found | Found | No |
Richer Breault | Found | Found | Yes |
Nicolas Cocos | Found | Partially Found | Yes |
Andre Jackson | Found | Found | No |
Jerry Martin-Kosis | Found | Found | Yes |
Hyung "Eddie" Paek | Lost | Found | No |
Michael Seibert (1st) | Found | Found | Yes |
Gilbert Sutherland | Found | Found | Yes |
John Christopher Weaver | Found | Found | No |
Victor Wells | Found | Lost | No |
Danny Swinney | Found | Lost | No |
Daryl Meledy | Lost | Lost | No |
Hoi Dick "Eddie" Chan | Found | Lost | No |
Eduardo Gullien | Found | Lost | No |
Eric Gamonal | Found | N/A | No |
Jonathan Daniel Vasquez | Found | Lost | No |
Jorge Colorado | Found | N/A | No |
Singh Karampal Nakai | Found | N/A | No |
Miguel Sosa | Found | N/A | No |
Mitchell Rhodes Hayek | Found | N/A | No |
Phillip Jaruhungsin | Found | Lost | No |
Spencer Cho | Found | N/A | No |
William Havey | Lost | N/A | No |
Alvin Hall Jr. | Found | Lost | No |
Greg Diederich | Found | N/A | No |
John Mahon | Found | Lost | No |
Maurice Ruiz | Found | N/A | No |
Greenville, Ohio
The Greenville, Ohio sting was conducted in March 2006 and saw seventeen men be arrested over a three-day period.[16] Among notable predators include James Rutherford, a teacher[17]; and Kevin Westerbeck, who not only was set to go to prison a few days after the sting, as he had previously been convicted not only for appearing at an earlier, unrelated sting, but he would also later be convicted for sexually abusing his underage niece.[18] All men who showed up were convicted, and thus their chatlogs are accessible on the Perverted Justice website. Additionally, some uncut interviews and police interrogations would be uploaded to MSNBC, and eventually be re-uploaded to YouTube. Others were previously available on MSNBC based on Web Archive data but currently remain missing.[19][20][21] Some uncut interviews (such as Nathan Downhour's and Ronnell Stephens-Tun's) that were available on YouTube have since been removed due to changes in YouTube's policy.
Predator | Chatlog | Uncut Hansen Confrontation | Uncut Police Interrogation | Podcast |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alonzo Wade | Found | Lost | Lost | Yes |
Nathan Downhour | Found | Lost | Found | Yes |
Jason Schoeppner | Found | Found | Lost | Yes |
Timothy Isaac | Found | Lost | Lost | Yes |
Davut Ozkan | Found | Found | Found | Yes |
Josh Tuttle | Found | Lost | Lost | No |
John Frantz | Found | Lost | Lost | Yes |
Ronnelle Stephens-Tun | Found | Lost | Lost | No |
James Rutherford | Found | Found | Found | Yes |
Jay Reffner | Found | Lost | Found | Yes |
Roger Brummitt | Found | Lost | Lost | No |
Kenneth Brinkman | Found | Found | Found | Yes |
Jeffery Stacy | Found | Found | Found | Yes |
Robb Kline | Found | Lost | Found | Found |
Glenn Mitchell | Found | N/A | Lost | No |
Kevin Westerbeck | Found | Found | Found | Yes |
Unaired
Nineteen-year-old Nicholas Bailey also showed up and ended up being convicted. His chatlog and uncut Hansen interview are currently accessible, but his uncut police interrogation (if he has one) has never been publicly seen. Twenty-seven-year-old Mahadevaswamy Chandrashekaraiah (known as "some guy with a really long name that showed in Ohio") is one of the most elusive predators from the show. Appearing only in snippets during the court proceedings, his chat log is available, but his uncut interview and police interrogation are inaccessible, although he can be heard being interrogated in the background of Kenneth Brinkman's interrogation. He was later deported back to his native country (possibly India) after serving his prison sentence.
Predator | Chatlog | Uncut Hansen Confrontation | Uncut Police Interrogation | Podcast |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nicholas Bailey | Found | Found | Lost | Yes |
Mahadevaswamy Chandrashekaraiah | Found | Lost | Partially Found (Audio), Lost (Video) | No |
Fort Myers, Florida
The Fort Myers, Florida sting was conducted in April 2006. Over three days, 24 men between the ages of 21 to 61 were arrested.[22] Among notable predators include Clifford Wallach, who brought his five-year-old son with him to the stinghouse;[23] and Marvin Lakhan, who entered the house naked and wanted a girl to commit bestiality on a cat.[24]
Of the men arrested, three would be acquitted; these included Michael Wilusz and Brian Gosselin, whose attorneys demanded Perverted Justice's hard drives for a court-ordered inspection, with the organization refusing to comply, claiming the hard drives had been destroyed. Thus, Wilusz and Gosselin were allowed to walk free. Meanwhile, Thomas Moffitt was acquitted because his attorney successfully convinced the jury that since Moffitt did not enter the house and was "trying to leave", he had not committed a crime. David Schumacher also had his charges dropped. The FBI took over his case since he had another case and charges pending against him for grand theft auto. He was given a plea deal by pleading guilty to the original charges, meaning he did not have to be sentenced for any sex crimes. However, after posting his chatlog anyway, members of Perverted Justice insisted that Schumacher was charged and convicted of assault for connection with the chat, but this is simply untrue.[25]
The remaining predators were convicted, with their chatlogs published on the website. The chatlogs of Wilusz and Gosselin would later be found and reuploaded as part of a Google Drive file, but Moffitt's remains missing. The Google Drive has since been taken down, but readings of the chats on YouTube can still be found. No uncut interview footage nor police interrogations have ever been released publicly for this sting, except for David Schumacher, who has had his uncut Hansen interview recovered by editing his aired segment together with his Predator Raw segment.
Predator | Chatlog | Uncut Hansen Confrontation | Podcast |
---|---|---|---|
Michael Wilusz | Found | Lost | Yes |
David Schumacher | Found | Found | Yes |
Dennis Ramsey | Found | Lost | No |
Thomas Moffitt | Lost | Lost | No |
Ellahzar Henson | Found | Lost | No |
Fredi Fernandez | Found | Lost | No |
Jose "Pepe" Falcon | Found | Lost | Yes |
Thomas Coffen | Found | Lost | Yes |
Eric Thornton | Found | Lost | |
Donald Morrison | Found | Lost | Yes |
Clifford Wallach | Found | Lost | Yes |
Raul Brenes | Found | Lost | No |
Brian Gosselin | Found | Lost | Yes |
Kenneth Forton | Found | Lost | Yes |
Elias Bailon | Found | Lost | No |
Calvin Lee Greer | Found | Lost | Yes |
Ryan McIntosh | Found | Lost | Yes |
Dallas Lee | Found | Lost | No |
Thomas Campbell | Found | Lost | Yes |
Marvin Lakhan | Found | Lost | Yes |
Unaired
Two predators who were unaired, Sunday School teacher Brian Emmens and teen mental health counsellor Peter Ernandez, are both considered huge missed opportunities by the TCaP fandom due to their jobs. Daniel Trust was also unaired, while Miguel Luiz Loyoza left the house before even meeting Chris Hansen. As with the aired and other unaired predators, their chatlogs are all available, but no uncut confrontations or police interrogations have ever been released.
Predator | Chatlog | Uncut Hansen Confrontation | podcast |
---|---|---|---|
Peter Ernandez | Found | Lost | No |
Brian Emmons | Found | Lost | No |
Daniel Trust | Found | Lost | No |
Miguel Luiz Lozoya | Found | Lost | No |
Fortson, Georgia
The Fortson, Georgia sting was conducted in July 2006 and saw 20 men be arrested over several days.[26] Among them included Cody Green, who later faced additional charges for indecently exposing himself to an eight-year-old girl at a swimming pool;[27] and Rolando Restocruz, an Iraqi war veteran.[28] With the exception of Abhilash Bhaskaran, who absconded prior to his trial,[29] all the predators were convicted, and thus their chatlogs were published on Perverted Justice's website.
Although no full police interrogations have ever resurfaced online and almost all uncut confrontations are lost, Cody Green's uncut confrontation has been partially recovered, having been unnoticed on YouTube for years since its original upload on 15 December 2015 by a user called X0AliciaX0
Predator | Chatlog | Uncut Hansen Confrontation | podcast |
---|---|---|---|
Denis Coulson | Found | Lost | Yes |
Christopher Cannon | Found | Lost | Yes |
John Adam Daniels | Found | Lost | No |
Matthew Cogburn | Found | Lost | Yes |
George Cleary | Found | Lost | No |
Peter Sciacca | Found | Lost | Yes |
James "Jim" Klein | Found | Lost | Yes |
Cody Green | Found | Partially Found | Yes |
Marvin Harrison Smith | Found | Lost | Yes |
David Hilbish | Found | Lost | |
Reymundo Anguiano | Found | Lost | |
Todd West | Found | Lost | Yes |
William Rowell | Found | Lost | |
Gerald White | Found | Lost | Yes |
Brian Lindsey | Found | Lost | |
Marshall Girtman | Found | Lost | Yes |
Rolando Restocruz | Found | Lost | Yes |
Joseph Myrick | Found | Lost | Yes |
Abhilash Bhaskaran | Lost | Lost |
Unaired
Only one predator, Jacob Cason, who has become semi-infamous for his strong accent, had his interview with Chris Hansen completely unaired. He can be seen entering the sting house and making a case at his bond hearing.
Predator | Chatlog | Uncut Hansen Confrontation |
---|---|---|
Jacob Cason | Found | Lost |
Petaluma, California
The Petaluma, California sting was conducted in August 2006 and saw 31 men arrested over three days. Among them include Piedmont physician and cancer research specialist Dr. Maurice Wolin; and Joseph Roisman, a Navy sailor who would ultimately be acquitted because the Judge accused Dateline NBC and Perverted Justice of entrapment.[30][31] Thus, Roisman's chatlog was never published, though many others would. The chatlogs of Pulkit Mathur and Kanishk Lakhanpal also went unpublished since Lakhanpal was not charged due to lack of sexual intent in his chatlog as noted in the episode.[32]and Mathur absconded most likely back to his native country. Another unaired predator Gopichand Pai chatlog also was only partially found since there is an excerpt of what he said to the decoy on Perverted Justices' website since unlike Mathur was actually convicted since he went to trial but like Mathur, he absconded before the sentencing. Nunna's chatlog is also not currently available for unknown reasons.[33] No uncut interview footage has resurfaced online.
Previously, no uncut police interrogations were available. However, prominent TCAP enthusiast HEY PEPE!!! received contact from a Petaluma source who revealed they had copies of some interrogations. Said source explained that most have since become lost to time. Nevertheless, on 2nd May 2023, Wolin's full interrogation was uploaded to YouTube, followed by Mathur's on 13th May. Lakhanpal's interrogation was partially uploaded on 19th May, with the rest also having become inaccessible over time. Finally, HEY PEPE!!! uploaded Vaikunth Soundarajan's interrogation on 26th May. He later confirmed on the Temple of TCAP forum that this was the last Petaluma interrogation he could obtain.[34]
Predator | Chatlog | Uncut Police Interrogation | Podcast |
---|---|---|---|
Norberto Avalos | Found | Lost | |
Jonathan Stemen | Found | Lost | |
Mike Vestal | Found | Lost | |
Manuel Uson | Found | Lost | |
Vaikunth Soundarajan | Found | Found | |
Fernando Bernal | Found | Lost | |
Juan Henry Guzman | Found | Lost | |
Shaka Khan | Found | Lost | |
Steven Cartlidge | Found | Lost | |
Jeffrey Couture | Found | Lost | |
Mohammed Aksoum | Found | Lost | |
Jaime Mendieta | Found | Lost | |
Jaswinder Cheema | Found | Lost | |
Joseph Roisman | Lost | Lost | |
Yancy Wallace | Found | Lost | |
Anurag Tawari | Found | Lost | |
Chandra Nunna | Lost | Lost | |
Pulkit Mathur | Lost | Found | |
Kanishk Lakhanpal | Lost | Partially Found | |
Dr. Maurice Wolin | Found | Found | |
Juan Carlos Gutierrrez | Found | Lost |
Unaired
Like the prior stings, some of the men's segments were either left on the cutting room floor entirely or were only shown in very brief highlights. Because Gopichand Pai absconded before trial, his full chat log was never published. A sample of it was posted on his "Most Wanted" page on Perverted Justice's website.
Predator | Chatlog | Uncut Police Interrogation |
---|---|---|
Gopichand Pai | Partially Found | Lost |
Aminder Singh | Found | Lost |
Jamie Mendieta | Found | Lost |
Eugenio Peres | Found | Lost |
John Craig Taylor | Found | Lost |
Ernesto Linayao | Found | Lost |
Thinh Tuong Ly | Found | Lost |
Andrew Jordan | Found | Lost |
David Fraser | Found | Lost |
Bing Liang | Found | Lost |
Long Beach, California
The Long Beach, California sting was conducted in September 2006 and saw 38 men arrested. Among notable predators include Michael Warrecker, who had a rape fetish;[35] and Michael Seibert, who had previously been caught in the Riverside sting.[36] All the men highlighted in the episode were ultimately convicted, with their chatlogs published on the Perverted Justice website.
Additionally, a few uncut videos concerning the interviews of Warrecker, Paul Clemente, Seibert, Corye Blagg, Farzad Kalantari and Corey Edgar have also been uploaded to YouTube from the defunct MSNBC subscription service. However, with notable jumpcuts, as well as some broadcasted footage not being included in the uncut videos, it is clear that the entirety of these uncut Hansen confrontations have not been found as of yet. No police interrogations have ever been made public for this sting.
Three unaired predators were not charged and their chatlogs have been lost. For some unaired predators, it is unknown if they even had any sort of interaction with Hansen or if they were arrested right away.
Predator | Chatlog | Uncut Hansen Confrontation |
---|---|---|
Michael Warrecker | Found | Partially Found |
Matthew Bland | Found | N/A |
Matthew Nash | Found | Lost |
Selvin Galeano | Found | Lost |
Paul Clemente | Found | Partially Found |
Robert Salinas | Found | Lost |
James Cisneros | Found | Lost |
Robert Culbertson | Found | Lost |
Justin Smith | Found | Lost |
Qays Mahjoob | Found | Lost |
Michael Seibert (2nd) | Found | Partially Found |
Corye Blagg | Found | Partially Found |
Farzad Kalantari | Found | Partially Found |
Satinder Thind | Found | Lost |
Josiah Walker | Found | Lost |
Joshua Larios | Found | Lost |
Maroof Farooq | Found | N/A. However, Farooq and another man sent in a fifteen-year-old to "scout" the area, where he was confronted by Hansen. This uncut confrontation is also lost. |
Loren Hayden | Found | N/A |
Alvin King | Found | N/A |
Frank Sierras | Found | Lost |
Robert "Brandon" Williams | Found | N/A |
Corey Edgar | Found | Partially Found |
Unaired
Because of the large influx of men caught in the sting, many men were either not included in the broadcast after being interviewed by Chris Hansen, or they arrived at the same time as other men, and effectively never got the chance to be interviewed. Three of the men - Mario Martinez, Uribe Lazo and Kevin Lasz - were acquitted of their crimes, so their chat logs are also missing. It is also unconfirmed if Martinez, Brandon Franklin, Ernesto Avila, David Frandsen and Conrad "James" Valdez were actually interviewed or not. Lasz's involvement in the sting would later be verified when he was arrested a second time for attempting to sexually assault an elderly woman almost a decade later.
Predator | Chatlog | Uncut Hansen Confrontation |
---|---|---|
Luciano Dimas | Found | Lost |
Aturo Chino | Found | Lost |
Brandon Franklin | Found | Unknown |
Anoosh Pajand | Found | N/A |
Ramin Sarajari | Found | N/A |
Ernesto Avila | Found | Unknown |
David Frandsen | Found | Unknown |
James Carlton | Found | Lost |
Conrad "James" Valdez | Found | Unknown |
Chris Reyes | Found | Lost |
Jimmy Magtira | Found | Lost |
Gabor Nagy | Found | Lost |
Tanisorn "Moe" Lam | Found | Lost |
Mario Martinez | Lost | Unknown |
Uribe Lazo | Lost | Lost |
Kevin Lasz | Lost | Lost |
Murphy, Texas
The Murphy, Texas sting was conducted in November 2006 and saw 25 men being caught in the sting. The Murphy sting proved to be the most infamous and controversial in the show's history. Not only were many Murphy residents unhappy with Dateline NBC appearing in their town, to the point where some conducted a protest outside the stinghouse, but it also saw the suicide of Louis Conradt, an assistant district attorney, following a botched arrest attempt at his home.[37] Following the Conradt suicide, the Texas district attorney decided not to press charges for the predators caught in the sting.[38] Thus, very little media outside of the episodes themselves are publicly accessible.
Conradt's chatlog would later be published on the Perverted Justice website under "Other Resolutions".[39] The chatlog of Stanley Kendall, a teacher caught in the sting, would eventually be uploaded to YouTube by Joey's TCAP Channel on August 12th, 2019. Joey would also upload Edward Hollingsworth V's chatlog on October 14th, 2021. John Ed Baker's chat was recovered by The Skip Tracer on November 21st, 2021.
Predator | Chatlog |
---|---|
Timothy Gilliam | Lost |
Randall Wolford | Lost |
Patrick Parr | Lost |
Justin Estes | Lost |
Sajjad Mohammad | Lost |
William Dow | Lost |
Alan Chernay | Lost |
Stanley Kendall | Found |
Christopher Cothrum | Lost |
Eric Rubalcava | Lost |
Timothy Knowles | Lost |
David Pann | Lost |
Edward Hollingsworth V | Found |
John Baker | Found |
Steve Rosello | Lost |
Louis Conradt | Found |
Unaired
Four men were not featured on the show. Although Asif Khokar was not interviewed by Hansen due to showing up at the sting house while Louis Conradt was being arrested, it is unknown if Milan Mehta, Samuel Tanguma, Jose Soto and Paulo Deassuncao were interviewed or not. Asif was the only predator in this sting to be convicted because a detective and the DA from his local district (Harris County near Houston) wanted to charge him and take over the cases that were not going to be prosecuted in Collin County in their district. Additionally, in 2022, The Skip Tracer obtained the transcript for Milan Mehta's chat log.
Predator | Chatlog |
---|---|
Asif Khokar | Found |
Milan Mehta | Found |
Samuel Tanguma | Lost |
Jose Soto | Lost |
Paulo Deassuncao | Lost |
Flagler Beach, Florida
The Flagler Beach, Florida sting was conducted in December 2006 and saw the arrests of 21 men over four days. Among them include James Wiles, who not only claimed that he could not have sex, but also admitted in his interrogation that he was previously accused of sexually abusing his own children; Safraz Khan and Yazan Asfour, who appeared at the stinghouse within five minutes of each other, and were thus interviewed together by Hansen; and Todd Spikes, an Alabama policeman who was found to have multiple guns and a body dump kit in his car.[40] 18 would be convicted, with their chatlogs published on Perverted Justice's website. Wiles, Asfour and Mohammed Abdallah would later abscond,[41][42][43] with Wiles being re-arrested in November 2009,[44] only to die in 2010 before his trial because he refused to take his medication.[45] Thus, all three chatlogs were not published on Perverted Justice's website, but Wiles' chatlog would be uploaded to YouTube by Joey's TCAP Channel on August 25th, 2020. Asfour and Mohammed's chat logs remain lost.
Additionally, while no uncut Hansen interviews have ever resurfaced, all the Flagler Beach police interrogations, including the unaired predators Anthony Phillips and Stephen Hold, have been uploaded to YouTube by The Cappening Channel through freedom of information requests.[46] David Wagner did not agree to speak to police, so no interrogation of his is believed to exist.
Predator | Chatlog | Uncut Police Interrogation |
---|---|---|
Mohammed Abdallah | Lost | Found |
Brian Dory | Found | Found, Found |
William Roach | Found | Found, Found |
Deepak Bist | Found | Found, Found |
Anthony Sorrentino | Found | Found, Found |
David Wagner | Found | N/A |
Charles Gregory Green | Found | Found, Found |
Brian Ruffino | Found | Found, Found |
Michael Collins | Found | Found |
Safraz Khan | Found | Found |
Yazan Asfour | Lost | Found |
Daniel Kelly | Found | Found, Found, Found |
Michael Reyes | Found | Found, Found |
James Wiles | Found | Found, Found, Found |
David Demers | Found | Found, Found |
Oanh Le | Found | Found |
Lance Fine | Found | Found |
Todd Spikes | Found | Found |
Unaired suspects
Stephen Holt, who had previously almost been caught in the Ohio sting but was too young at the time to be arrested, and Anthony Phillips, who would later become a deputy despite his involvement in the sting, were both interviewed by Chris Hansen, but their interviews were never televised, and no uncut footage has surfaced either. According to one of the Perverted Justice volunteers, Stephen laughed when Hansen brought up a photograph Stephen had sent of his genitals to who he believed to be a thirteen-year-old girl. Their chat logs and uncut police interrogations are both available online.
One more unaired predator, Samuel Ray Harrison, also appeared in this episode. Unlike Holt and Phillips, however, he never went inside the sting house. He waited out front until Hansen came, but instead of talking to Hansen, he ran and was arrested. His chatlog and uncut police interrogation are both also publicly available.
Predator | Chatlog | Uncut Police Interrogation |
---|---|---|
Stephen Holt | Found | Found |
Anthony Phillips | Found | Found |
Samuel Ray Harrison | Found | FoundFound |
Ocean County, New Jersey
The Ocean County, New Jersey sting was conducted from late March to early April 2007 and saw the arrests of 28 men. Among them include Todd Lewis, a registered sex offender previously convicted of sexually abusing a young girl he met online; and Kazuo Akutsu, who ended up passing out and crashing into a bar counter in the sting house.[47][48] Almost all of the men were convicted, aside from Tech Sergeant Ernest Timmons, Timmons having passed away while in jail because of liver failure. His chatlog was published on Perverted Justice's website as part of "Other Resolutions".[49] The remaining chatlogs were also published on the website, with the exception of Savio Noronha's, with speculation being he managed to be acquitted of the charges against him.[50]
Although no police interrogations have been made publicly accessible, a small snippet of Kazuo Akutsu's uncut Hansen confrontation has been found, namely when he passes out and smashes into the bar at the end of the interview. Some uncut footage from Michael Lubrano's Hansen interview can be found online as well.
Predator | Chatlog | Uncut Hansen Confrontation |
---|---|---|
Gregory Stewart | Found | Lost |
Chris Raynor | Found | Lost |
David Russell | Found | Lost |
Eugene Daily | Found | Lost |
Daniel Figueroa | Found | Lost |
Selwyn Knights | Found | Lost |
Dwayne Chisholm | Found | Lost |
James Erick Santil | Found | Lost |
Ziegfeld Rivera | Found | Lost |
Michael Lubrano | Found | Partially Found |
Robert Graber | Found | Lost |
Ernest Timmons | Found | Lost |
Malik Washington | Found | Lost |
Richard Burnham | Found | Lost |
Howard Thornton III | Found | Lost |
James Marcotte | Found | Lost |
Anthony Palumbo | Found | Lost |
Savio Noronha | Lost | Lost |
Jeremy Keister | Found | Lost |
Michael Murray | Found | Lost |
John Donnelly | Found | Lost |
Thomas Shin | Found | Lost |
Terry Warner | Found | Lost |
Todd Lewis | Found | Lost |
Kazuo Akutsu | Found | Partially Found |
Unaired
Four suspects - Sean Lee, William Hare, Justo Benavides and Chris Raynor - were unaired, with Sean Lee apparently having showed up concurrently with Jeremy Keister and Michael Murray, being arrested while Keister and Murray were being confronted by Hansen. Hare was not interviewed by Hansen either, while Benavides and Raynor appeared in brief snippets, apparently having been interviewed. However, their uncut confrontations remain lost.
Predator | Chatlog | Uncut Hansen Confrontation |
---|---|---|
Sean Lee | Found | N/A |
William Hare | Found | N/A |
Justo Benavides | Found | Lost |
Chris Raynor | Found | Lost |
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Finally, the Bowling Green, Kentucky sting was conducted in October 2007 and resulted in the arrests of seven men over four days.[51] Among them included Lorne Armstrong, who had a 407-page chatlog and showed up on his birthday; James Travis Fowler, a registered sex offender convicted in 1995 for having sex with an underage seventeen-year-old; and Dustin McPhetridge, a sufferer of cerebral palsy who was previously caught chatting inappropriately online with teenage girls. He also possessed many indecent images and videos of children on DVD-Rs.[52] Also included were highlights of the Highland Heights sting Dateline NBC was not involved with, with a segment on Jim Rauch, a University of Cincinnati faculty member, whose police interrogation and phone conversation with the decoy became famous among the TCAP community.[53]
All the predators featured were convicted, and thus their chatlogs were published on the Perverted Justice website. A freedom of information request also proved successful in gaining all of the police interrogations. The only missing interrogation media for Bowling Green is the video for Jeremy Todd West, although a complete audio recording has been recovered.
As for uncut interviews, two were uploaded to YouTube, originating from an unusual source. It was revealed that the uncut Lorne Armstrong interview was actually sent by Armstrong to a catfish of his, believing that NBC unfairly represented him in the broadcast and that the uncut footage would show him in a better light when seen by others. Also included in the tape was James Travis Fowler's segment.[54] The rest have yet to see the light of day, although an uncut clip of Michael Patterson being tased after his interview concluded has been recovered.
Predator | Chatlog | Uncut Hansen Confrontation | Uncut Police Interrogation |
---|---|---|---|
Jim Rauch | Found | N/A | Found |
John Wesley Elliot | Found | Lost | Found |
Jeremy Todd West | Found | Lost | Found (Audio), Lost (Video) |
Lorne Armstrong | Found | Found | Found |
Dustin McPhetridge | Found | Lost | Found |
Richard Watwood | Found | Lost | Found |
Travis Fowler | Found | Found | Found, Found |
Michael Patterson | Found | Partially Found | Found |
See Also
External Links
References
- ↑ Perverted Justice home page discussing having decoys in MSN, AOL and Yahoo! chatroom back in the early-to-mid 2000s. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ NBC News explaining how the chatlogs alone were enough to be charged with a misdemeanour in California, but that showing up is a felony. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Perverted Justice explaining the Information First scheme that led to chatlogs not being published unless convictions were secured. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Web Archive of MSNBC, which provided uncut TCAP interviews for Riverside and Ohio. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ 4Archive discussing how some police interrogations were obtained through FOIA requests. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Perverted Justice page concerning the Bethpage, New York sting. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Perverted Justice's Chatlog Conviction page for Ryan Hogan. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Perverted Justice page concerning the Fairfax, Virginia sting. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Perverted Justice page concerning the Riverside, California sting. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Will & Will article concerning William Lawrence Havey being acquitted. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Perverted Justice's "Other Resolutions" page for Charles Harding. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Web Archive showcasing a blocked MSNBC page containing Riverside TCAP footage, including ones for Erik Pallesen, Abraham Koujababian and Dan Swinney, all of which are currently inaccessible. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Web Archive showcasing a blocked MSNBC page containing TCAP footage, including one for John Mahon, which is inaccessible currently. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Web Archive showcasing a blocked MSNBC page containing TCAP Riverside footage, including one for John Mahon, which is inaccessible currently. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Web Archive showcasing additional Riverside footage, including for Jorge Correa's bust. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Daily Advocate article concerning the Greenville, Ohio sting. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Fox 19 article concerning the arrest of James Rutherford. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ NBC News article concerning Kevin Westerbeck and his crimes. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Web Archive showcasing several uncut Ohio interviews that currently cannot be accessed. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Web Archive showcasing more uncut Ohio videos. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Third Web Archive link showcasing potentially lost uncut Ohio footage. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Naple News article concerning the Fort Myers, Florida sting. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Naples News article concerning Clifford Wallach and his conviction. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Naples News article concerning Marvin Lakhan. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Temple of TCAP page discussing why the three Fort Myers predators were acquitted. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Ledger-Enquirer article concerning the Fortson, Georgia sting. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Forsyth News concerning Cody Green and his subsequent arrest. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ NBC News article concerning the Fortson, Georgia sting and Rolando Restocruz. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Perverted Justice's Most Wanted page for Abhilash Bhaskaran. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Press Democrat article concerning the Petaluma, California sting. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Daily Mail article concerning Joseph Roisman being acquitted. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Perverted Justice's Most Wanted page for Pulkit Mathur. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Temple of TCAP forum concerning Chandra Nunna's missing chatlog. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Temple of TCAP discussing Vaikunth Soundarajan's uncut interrogation Retrieved 27 May '23
- ↑ NBC News article concerning the Long Beach, California sting and Michael Warrecker. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Los Angeles Times article concerning the Long Beach, California sting and Michael Seibert's second appearance. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Esquire article detailing the botched arrest and ultimately, the suicide of Louis Conradt. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Fox News article concerning the Texas district attorney's decision not to press charges on the Murphy predators. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Perverted Justice's "Other Resolutions" page for Louis Conradt. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ NBC News article concerning the Flagler Beach, Florida sting, and James Wiles, Safraz Khan and Yazan Asfour, and Todd Spikes. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Perverted Justice's Most Wanted page for Yazan Asfour. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Perverted Justice's Most Wanted page for Yazan Asfour. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Perverted Justice's Most Wanted page for Mohammed Abdallah. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Temple of TCAP post discussing James Wiles being re-arrested in November 2009. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Temple of TCAP post concerning the death of James Wiles. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Temple of TCAP post discussing how the Flagler Beach, Florida police interrogations resurfaced online. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ NBC News article concerning the Ocean County, New Jersey sting and its predators. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Trib Live article concerning the conviction of Todd Lewis. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Perverted Justice's "Other Resolutions" page for Ernest Timmons. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Temple of TCAP forum theorizing why Savio Noronha's chatlog was never published. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ ColumbiaMagazine discussing the Bowling Green, Kentucky sting. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ NBC News article discussing the Bowling Green, Kentucky sting, and its predators. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Temple of TCAP discussing Jim Rauch's notability within the TCAP community. Retrieved 8 Aug '21
- ↑ Temple of TCAP discussing how the uncut interviews of Lorne Armstrong and Travis Fowler were found. Retrieved 8 Aug '21