“To Catch a Predator” was essentially a privately run sting operation that police were invited to participate. I support that. If the video went further into the investigative techniques, signs for predatory habits, and steps for determination of said suspect that this group, DAP, was using, I might change my mind on the following.
My main concern is what recourse is there in their organization for mistakes? What accountability is there? I’ve seen someone accused of rape and later exonerated lose his housing… after the accusation was proven false and the court said he was innocent.
Other examples… I’m mixed race, my father is white. When I was a child, a group of moms called the police on my father because he took me to a park in a new area. They thought he was kidnapping me, and the police questioned me and my parents at our apartment. Similarly, a friend of mine is white, and has a mixed race daughter. He, too, was accused of kidnapping or being a child predator a few times when he took his daughter places… especially because the mother never took her anywhere.
I’m absolutely against child molestation, rape, etc. However, if this was 40 years ago and this guy ruined my father’s life because of false accusations being posted accross the internet, or was to physically threaten or harm him, we would have a big problem whether he posted the second video or not. Now… someone caught in the act or acting to create such a situation, that’s a different story. Of course, I would think video of that would be prosecutable as well.
