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Hi Reddit! I am Chris Hansen, former host of Dateline NBC's To Catch a Predator and Crime Watch. Take a seat....and ask me anything.
Hi Reddit!
I'm Chris Hansen from Dateline NBC's To Catch a Predator and Crime Watch Daily.
Here to answer anything from the Reddit community and will be answering with video responses via Cameo
Proof: https://imgur.com/a/hxzwZcc
Let's do this......ask me anything!
edit: Big thanks for ALL the questions Reddit! Signing off for now, but always a fun time participating with fans and answering your questions.
ChrisHansen_Official7148 karma
Absolutely. Sometimes these things get unwieldy, but if you send me proof of purchase and your address, send me a DM to this account and I'll get that fixed for you ASAP.
TotallyABrobot7715 karma
What ever happened to Onision, aka Onionboy, in certain circles?
I wanna know if he got brought to justice yet. Or are you still working on it?
Beastlyfe245467 karma
You are unaware if the men are armed during catch a predator so - How did you feel during the early days of filming? What precautions were in place?
ChrisHansen_Official5888 karma
We try to do background checks to see if they have a permit to carry a handgun. If there is talk of weapons, the police will arrest the predator before he gets into the home. You never know, so it's always intense and you have to watch the body language. I have personal security, and everyone else has security, so we are as safe as we can be.
ChrisHansen_Official9483 karma
South Park doesn't tell you beforehand they are doing the episode, and I got a text from my agent that south park is doing you tonight and it's funny. Finally got credibility with my kids.
CrodudeClassic4214 karma
Was there any To Catch a Predator footage that you weren't allowed to air? If so, what happened and why?
ChrisHansen_Official4808 karma
No, virtually in every case where a suspect came in, some cases were more compelling than others. Some things were just difficult to put on television because of the content. Everything we captured was aired in one way or another.
BoBcabbage114055 karma
So Chris, when do we start taking down more of the high elite pedophiles?
ChrisHansen_Official7249 karma
I like to use the word "predator" because it is apter. I'm in the midst of doing that right now. There is a billionaire that is currently accused of doing this for over 30 years. It was one of the most compelling stories I've ever worked on, and will reveal more soon.
Dontbecruelbro3793 karma
What was the longest prison sentence imposed as a consequence of getting outed on To Catch A Predator?
ChrisHansen_Official5072 karma
If memory serves me correctly, there was an older fellow in Riverside, California. He was a repeat offender and got a 24 year sentence.
ChrisHansen_Official5601 karma
Well, it's not a trial. It was a complaint in New Jersey that launched a complaint against me and used a hijacked website. We got that website taken down. Am I worried about it? Absolutely not.
Spamwarrior2392 karma
How much was staged or recreated for tape and cohesion, and how much was raw footage?
ChrisHansen_Official3709 karma
None of it was staged. It was all real footage. Obviously we edit for TV, but it is ALL real footage
parrmorgan2163 karma
Were there any predators you were worried for your own safety when talking to them? Like, they would just decide "fuck it" and lunge at you?
ChrisHansen_Official3088 karma
A couple of times. One, in particular, was a navy guy that came towards where the decoy was, and where we were. He was well built, and he looked like he could take a punch. Nothing happened, thankfully.
Another guy was a rabbi that lunged trying to grab explicit photos of a victim to dispose of. Nothing further happened there.
HunterLeonux1031 karma
Have any cases that appeared on the show been invalidated due to claims of entrapment?
ChrisHansen_Official1518 karma
No, it's not entrapment because we are now law enforcement. Also, the decoy makes it very obvious, and says who they are explicitly. By the time the suspected predator arrives, in most states, solicitation of a minor has already happened. To my knowledge, no one has ever walked.
CALL_ME_MR_PIG858 karma
In To Catch a Predator, there's been many disturbing cases. Do you ever bring any of it back home? How do you cope with it?
ChrisHansen_Official1353 karma
That is interesting because you get in such a zone when you do these things. It does stick with you. It is emotional, it is draining to get inside a predator's mind. You realize what would happen if the decoy was a real child. You understand that it is to educate and create a dialogue. It's worth in the end. You just accept it's for the greater good.
jfsindel493 karma
Has there ever been a predator that "got away" and you know for sure that they're guilty? How do you deal with something like that?
ChrisHansen_Official756 karma
Almost everybody who showed up didn't get away. Sometimes there were early investigations that went nowhere because the police weren't in a parallel investigation.
One guy comes to mind that walked into the house naked, and he gets spooked, dresses, and leaves.
The next day, there was a commotion in the decoy room. They said you won't believe this but he's at McDonald's. I almost didn't know what to say when I confronted him. Here's how it happened
ChrisHansen_Official777 karma
Well, I'm quite busy actually. I got two televisions projects going. I was interviewing victims on a big case, and I will be revealing more soon.
Doing a few other projects too. It's a good time.
ChrisHansen_Official1779 karma
Well...The answer is no. But..several years ago, I was in Colorado with my son. And it was legal. It's not your father's marijuana. It's nothing like in Michigan State when I was coming up.
ChrisHansen_Official437 karma
I try not to get too close. I can tell you during the riverside investigation, the guy walked into the kitchen and said "I stink, I need a shower". I was standing there with a paper towel, and it blew his mind. That's the one that sticks out
ChrisHansen_Official282 karma
I have a number of potential targets who have been accused of different sorts of impropriety online. We will continue our investigation into the Youtube psychopath Onsion and am investigating several cases as we speak.
coffeeandcontemplate139 karma
Did you ever feel sorry for any of the people that showed up to meet? Seems like a lot of them had severe mental health problems
ChrisHansen_Official271 karma
There was an investigation in California, and there was a guy with a scar from a head injury. I felt bad for him, and what happened to him, and it may have blurred his judgment. A matter of weeks later, he surfaced in another investigation. He had done a year in jail for a violent assault, and I didn't feel so sorry for him at that point.
bozzltov14298 karma
I still haven't received that autographed 8x10 from your Kickstarter campaign a few years ago. Can you please address that?
Update - Chris responded to help fix the issue.
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