", But Dianna is still not convinced that Todd is a sex predator. And he was on the waiting list to become a cop. It was devoted to impersonating underage people (generally ages 12 - 15) and detaining male adults who contacted them over the Internet for sexual liaisons. Donations from readers like you are essential to sustaining this work. A blurred image pops up on the screen: It's a shot of Todd's penis, which he sent the girl via webcam. In October of this year, Dianna made up her mind to divorce Todd. We rarely will engage with a teenager who is hitting on a 13 or 14 year-old. And until Dianna Strawder decided to talk to Glamour, none of these women had ever spoken to a national magazine. Then, she says, he hung his head in shame. "I immediately thought about leaving him. "This [note] is to inform you that Todd West has been convicted of charges stemming from his arrest in the Dateline NBC/Perverted Justice sting operationin which he solicited, for sexual purposes, someone he believed to be 14 years of age," read the e-mail. At that time, Hansen reported that he was commencing negotiations with various potential broadcast networks in an effort to find a media platform on which to air the footage that was shot during the Fairfield operation. | He mentioned suicide. Chris Hansen - Host: [Chris Hansen, as he reads to Jeffrey Stacey from the chat log transcript of his conversation with the decoy] You ask her if she's horny. Her thoughts turned to Dateline; their lives would change dramatically when the episode aired in a few months. Thats part of our protocol. There was a long gap in which you didnt do these stings, but many encouraged you to return to them. So the guys dont see it. Privacy Policy. In the hallway she heard teachers whisper about the episode, saying, "One of guys even had a fiance! Well never put our work behind a paywall, and well never put a limit on the number of articles you can read. Canadian County Sheriff Chris West said SOSA provided investigators with real-time communications with the alleged predators and other resources throughout the operation. When asked about how the series came about, Hansen explained that, The idea grew out of a conversation I had years ago, with a fellow reporter, a friend of mine. The communications included video chats, text messages, phone calls, and direct messages on social media platforms. It's a whole 'nother playing field now. The man deserves to have a place to go worship. "Can't we appeal?" But it is, by its very nature, a risky proposition. Knowing that youre behind us means so much. Click this link for the original source of this article. "You deserve better than this," he repeatedly told her. After cutting away to another man's story, Dateline shows Todd outside the house as cops rush up to him, shouting that he should throw himself to the ground. An actress that would go on to have many television roles, Cope first started as a decoy on TCaP. Theyre either defending themselves, explaining themselves, or confessing their sins. And there is a definitive link1 between child porn and child exploitation. Date of birth Jerry Lambe is a journalist at Law&Crime. And there is the dramatic, signature moment when the visible cameras come out. Like Vincent Ambrosio. . Remember that the majority of the interaction is on hidden camera. Does he own a gun? According to the sheriffs office, Otha Smith traveled the farthest of the five suspects, driving about five hours to meet one of the decoy actresses at a hotel. Every time they walked by a young girl, she glared at him to make sure he wasn't ogling her. In the aftermath of the Dateline sting, Dianna Strawder has had to wrestle with some disturbing questions. People were lured to meet with a decoy under the preten Read all. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Two hours into their trip, near the exit for the decoy house Todd had visited, she finally exploded. He worked for a cable company, so he was in people's houses every day. In hopes of a light sentence, Todd decided to plead guilty. While Todd waited in jail, Dianna kept a low profile; outside of Todd's family, the only people who knew what had happened were a few trusted friends. It was on a beach and I believe was from the New Jersey sting. Todd had been arrested for trying to solicit sex from a decoy disguised as an underage girl. she exclaimed. Or to keep it anonymous, click here. "I don't believe he is the man that Dateline says he is," she says. May 5, 1987 I still think he's nice. Jessica told her mother that evening at home: "I wanted to tell them how great Todd was. We try to work it the best way for justice. The site also posted a profile about Todd's crime, with links to his e-mail address, IM names and phone number. We consult the prosecutors. Todd can't live with you." Scuba Certification; Private Scuba Lessons; Scuba Refresher for Certified Divers; Try Scuba Diving; Enriched Air Diver (Nitrox) If I wasnt there, somebody would have been raped that night. But fans kept asking him to bring back the stings, and last year Hansen mounted a Kickstarter campaign, raising nearly $90,000 for a reboot called "Hansen vs. Predator.". As they traveled, the roommate said that a few weeks earlier he and Todd had watched an episode of Dateline: To Catch a Predator. We do a vast amount of research on these men: does he have a concealed weapons permit? Is there a question of whether people would have attempted to harm children had they not been lured by the decoy? Her head spinning, Dianna couldn't imagine what her sweet, gentle Toddthe man who surprised her on Sunday mornings with Spanish omelets and cried when his cats were sickhad done. More than anything, she worried that her decision to stay with Todd could hurt her girls. She gets into position, standing by the front door as a potential predator shows up at our undercover house." "I complimented his boots, and before I knew it, we'd been talking for two hours," she says. Trending pages Nervous Nellie/Nelly Casey Mauro Del Harvey Male HvP Decoy Emily Bicks Dani Miura Dan Schrack Lindsay Faye Wagner All items (10) # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O He knew hed face 10 years in prison for each image. Dianna softened. And sometimes they freak out. It was devoted to impersonating underage people (generally ages 12 - 15) and detaining male adults who contacted them over Read allTo Catch a Predator is an American reality television series that features hidden camera investigations by the television news magazine program Dateline NBC. We did, and I think we handled it fairly responsibly. Predator, conducted a sting operation in conjunction with local police in Fairfield, Connecticut. Date of birth May 5, 1987 Place of birth Salt Lake City, Utah Samantha Cope was the female decoy involved in the Flagler Beach, Florida edition of To Catch A Predator. They were going to go to school with that on their shoulders every day," Dianna recalls. "He called a few days later, and we were pretty much together after that." According to a news release from the Canadian County Sheriff's Office (CCSO), the five suspects taken into custody include Trace Turkelson, 22, of Elgin; Cody Ewing, 27, of Yukon; Tracy Fisher, 41, of Tulsa; William Copeland IV, 29, of Calhan, CO; and Otha Smith . The roommate had commented, "I can't believe the freaking idiots who do this kind of thing." "You love him, and we love him.". But with the help of a new Kickstarter campaign, Hansen is hoping to change that and unleash a. The voice-over continues: "Thirty-seven-year-old Todd West has no problem following our decoy right into the house. "Oh, honey," the woman said, "I am so sorry.". It included using a decoy house the suspects allegedly believed was the home of girls ages 14 and 15. He's here to meet a girl who online told him she was a 14-year-old virgin. "Fourteen," he admitted, his voice cracking. Author: Jerry Lambe. Over the next few days, the image of Todd sitting in jail played in her head. "I don't know," he says. The site poked fun at Dianna. It said, "We're not quite sure who is more deludedFather [Johnson] or the fiance. We had a guy in the last investigation who, when police searched his car, had a loaded gun, duct tape, and a camera, and wanted to take this 13-year-old for a ride. Hear behind the scenes details and find out what Casey is up to these days!For additional content and other perks check out www.patreon.com/criminalperspectiveThis episode is brought to you by:Shelter Farm SanctuaryDeep Search TattooAnchorSpotify#tocatchapredator #tcap #ChrisHansen #HansenVsPredator #CrimeWatchDaily #podcast #Dateline #NBC #MSNBC #Youtube #truecrime #crime #internet #internetsafety #safety #decoy #actress #CaseyMauro #predator #tv #television #news #undercover #computer #sexcrime #spotify I said, How did you know that? And he said, I watch the show all the time, and when I miss an episode, I download it from the Internet., There was only one investigation where some of the cases were not prosecuted," Hansen explained when asked about a story that a handful of cases were thrown out due to a legal technicality. She couldn't stop obsessing, not just over the repulsive details reported on the Dateline episode, but also about his intended infidelity. Aliases One, who doesnt want to go after child predators? And experts in the field say when it comes to female predators, you're more likely to see the teacher/student scenario, as opposed to someone meeting anonymously online. From left: Jessica, Dianna and Rachel Strawder in the home they once shared with Todd. "As crazy as it sounds, our relationship felt stronger than ever," says Dianna. And it never gets tiring., 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Five men in Oklahoma have been arrested after law enforcement authorities conducted a four-day sting to catch child sex predators. Their route took them along Interstate 85, the same highway Todd had driven on the way to his planned hookup. To this day, Dianna believes Todd's story. In the past three years, with the help of an organization called Perverted Justicea vigilante Internet group whose volunteers pose as children to flush out potential sex offendersDateline has shown on national television the capture of more than 263 men, many of whom were seeking sex with minors. Hansen thinks that making a show out of following up with the predators he has encountered in the past is "an excellent idea. ", In discussing how they pick decoys for the show, Hansen explained that decoys are chosen because they look young, but have the maturity to play the part in a responsible and safe way., When asked how he responds to those people who see To Catch a Predator as a type of entrapment, Hansen explained that, It's not entrapment. Hosted by Chris Hansen, To Catch a Predator is a series that recurred on the TV news magazine Dateline NBC. While reruns of To Catch a Predator still air regularly, no new episodes have been shot since 2007. And we investigate equally.. When the FBI conducts sting operations targeting online predators, it refers to the men who get caught as "travelers.". Samantha Cope was the female decoy involved in the Flagler Beach, Florida edition of To Catch A Predator. "The whole world was going to think my girls had a creep for a stepdad. To Catch a Predator is an American reality television series that features hidden camera investigations by the television news magazine program Dateline NBC. Five men in Oklahoma have been arrested after law enforcement authorities conducted a four-day sting to catch child sex predators. Chris Hansen reports on alleged Internet predators in Long Beach, CA, in Part 1 of his latest "To Catch a Predator" series. Chris Hansen, the host of Crime Watch Daily.. According to a news release from the Canadian County Sheriff's Office (CCSO), the five suspects taken into custody include Trace Turkelson, 22, of Elgin; Cody Ewing, 27, of Yukon; Tracy Fisher, 41, of Tulsa; William Copeland IV, 29, of Calhan, CO; and Otha Smith . At the jail Dianna stared at Todd through an acrylic window scratched with the words "bitch" and "scumbag." The only bright spot: He could be eligible for parole within a year or two. 2023 USSA News, The Tea Party's Front Page. If you view these people as sick, how do you square that? People always say, These guys should be thrown away, and I say, Some of them can be fixed. We have not invested in treatment for this like we have in alcoholism, or heroin, or cocaine. Her comfort came from her relationship with the community of friends she and Todd had established via MySpace, most of whom didn't know about Todd's crime. Samantha Cope "You don't know anything?" His arresting officer, Sheriff Mike Jolley, thinks she is deceiving herself: "I've arrested a lot of men like Todd, and I don't believe it's a first time for any of them. A few days after Todd's arrest, Todd's roommate and Dianna made the drive to the Harris County jail. But she didn't have time to wonder; she had to get to her job as a medical technician at Loganville Dialysis Center, outside Atlanta, where she would spend the day tending to dialysis patients, hooking them up to the whooshing machines that kept them alive. He burst into tears. Life as the wife of a convicted sex predator was relentlessly demoralizing. Now she wasn't sure what to do. Longtime viewers of the show might remember that many of the predators were asked to bring along some Mikes Hard Lemonade, which didnt sit so well with the beverage-makers. But what isn't often shown is the grief and humiliation of those closest to the predators, particularly their wives and girlfriends. On her weekly two-hour drives to the prison, Dianna would be greeted by an increasingly fragile and withdrawn Todd. (Note: Ambrosio was a 19-year-old arrested during a recent investigation in Fairfield, Conn.). Friends advised Dianna to leave him, saying that a criminal shouldn't be around her children. In a Dateline hidden camera investigation, correspondent Chris Hansen catches some of these men in the act. "Minors in towels. What did you learn about the fanbase? Do you black out his face? The suspects are accused of sending nude photos to the decoys and describing sex acts the arrestees desired to perform with the purported girls. One thing you see a lot about today is how difficult it is for sex offenders to find jobs and housing when they get out. Biography An actress that would go on to have many television roles, Cope first started as a decoy on TCaP. I have a hard time feeling sorry for him. They are part of me, my absolute priority. Then, in 2006, one of those men committed suicide. As she drove to work through the predawn streets, she dialed the Harris County jail and asked the woman at the intake desk what was going on. she asked. He told her he'd started chatting online with the girl because he was scared of getting married. She felt she had to give him a second chance, even though it wouldn't be an easy choice to live with. Technical Specs, See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro, field producer / executive producer / associate producer (12 episodes, 2004-2007), field producer / associate producer (9 episodes, 2006-2007), producer / additional producer (7 episodes, 2005-2006), senior investigative producer (7 episodes, 2006-2007), assistant producer / associate producer (6 episodes, 2005-2006), executive producer (6 episodes, 2006-2007), field producer / producer (4 episodes, 2005-2007), assistant producer (4 episodes, 2006-2007), assistant producer (2 episodes, 2005-2006), associate producer (2 episodes, 2005-2006), specialty camera / camera operator (12 episodes, 2005-2007), camera operator / specialty camera (11 episodes, 2005-2007), camera operator / specialty camera (9 episodes, 2006-2007), specialty camera / camera operator (7 episodes, 2005-2007), specialty camera / camera operator (7 episodes, 2006-2007), additional camera / camera operator (4 episodes, 2005-2007), camera operator / specialty camera (4 episodes, 2006), additional camera / camera operator (3 episodes, 2006), camera operator / additional camera (3 episodes, 2006), additional camera / camera operator (2 episodes, 2006). 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