Space Forum / Astronomy / September 2006

By the time we finish broadcasting this latest series of "To Catch A
Predator" investigations, 184 men will have been charged with crimes
relating to soliciting a minor online for sex. What is starting to
amaze me, though, is how many men continue to show up at our hidden
camera houses who have seen our past investigations.

9:05 p.m.
One of the first guys you'll meet tonight is just such a character.
24-year-old Raymundo Anguiano who shows up to meet a 14-year-old girl
after an explicit online chat. He tells me he's seen not one, but
three of our past investigations. Anguiano, who goes by the screen name
"Truesweetguy69" can almost predict what's going to happen to him
next. He said he had "second thoughts" about coming over but then
admits "whatever was gonna happen was gonna happen." As I interview
him, I keep wondering to myself if it's really possible that someone
could have seen three of our shows and walk in our house anyway. As
you're about to see, Anguiana will eliminate any doubt. He knew the
routine so well that he is almost able to do my job. He knows exactly
when the cameramen are supposed to emerge from the next room and most
likely that the moment he walks out of the house, he'll be arrested
by authorities, which is exactly what happens.

9:15 p.m.
You'll likely notice tonight that we use two different female decoys
during the Georgia investigation. Here's why: As you may recall, on
day two of the investigation Yahoo chat rooms all over the country go
dead because of a power outage in northern California. The result is
that for nearly nine hours we had difficulty talking to and keeping
track of potential predators who may visit. We end up extending the
shoot to compensate. The problem for us is that our decoy needed to
back to college and could not continue to pose as our young teen home
alone. Producer Lynn Keller called her sister who happens to live in
Atlanta and has a 20-year-old son. He called a youngish-looking college
girl he knows in his neighborhood and the next thing we know we have
another decoy.

9:30 p.m.

It seems that in each one of our investigations we experience a "To
Catch A Predator" first. Harris County, Ga. is no different.
33-year-old Army Staff Sgt. Rolando Restocruz shows up at our house
after chatting online with a decoy posing as a 14-year-old girl.
Restocruz talks about showering with the girl and then taking her
virginity. He promises to bring lubricant, condoms, beer and lingerie.
This is our sixth investigation and I like to think that I am prepared
for just about any scenario. What happens next, I could not predict.
Watch tonight as I confront Restocruz and you see him actually drop to
his knees and assume what appeared to be the prisoner of war position.
He claims he would never have actually gone through with what he talked
about online, but now you're about to see him change his story and
try to bargain with us. He will offer to get counseling. The man whose
screen name is "Marriedandlookingforfun31313" doesn't seem to be
having much fun now. And wait until you see what sheriff's deputies
find in his car.

9:40 p.m.

Here in Georgia, we find what we've found all over the country. The
men who come to visit a minor for sex come from all walks of life. Some
have advanced degrees and big jobs. 34-year-old Abhilash Bhaskaran is a
director of development of a computer software company. He also has an
MBA. But as you're about to see, the man who calls himself
"Raj21us21" has decided to take a day off and visit a girl he
believes to be 13 and home alone. From his office computer Bhaskaran
has been chatting with the decoy about how she'll "learn as they go
along" about oral sex.

Bhaskaran tells the decoy he wants to be cautious because "u know sex
with a minor is called rape." If you saw this man standing in line
with you at the grocery, you would never imagine he would allegedly be
involved in this sort of activity and that continues a common theme
with most of the men we see.

It's a theme that continues next week when our investigation takes us
to Northern California.

· Sept. 22, 2006 | 9:00 a.m.

Potential predators stop at a nearby gas station for candy, drinks, and
condoms (Chris Hansen, Dateline Correspondent)

It's not the first time a military man has shown up at one of our
hidden camera houses, but when Army Staff Sgt. Rolando Restocruz
arrived to meet a 14-year-old girl at our home in Fortson, Ga., he did
something that was a "To Catch A Predator" first.

Restocruz, who did a tour of duty in Iraq and who calls himself
"marriedlooking forfun31313" when he's chatting online, seemed
calm and confident when he walked into our kitchen and poured himself a
glass of iced tea. Restocruz had spent three weeks chatting with a
decoy from the online watchdog group Perverted Justice. The chat log
was more than 50 pages long and included a detailed script as to how
the Army Sgt. wanted the liaison to go. He talks about undressing the
girl and her undressing him. There's talk of a shower and how he'll
take the girl's virginity. But after I walk in to confront the man
his romantic mood seems spoiled. It appears that at first he thinks I
might be the girl's father. He's apologetic and on the brink of
tears.

That's when he does something we've never seen before. He actually
gets down on his knees and assumes what looks like the prisoner of war
position. He sounds like he's trying to strike a bargain, promising
he'll go to counseling. He continues to plead his case as he is
arrested by Harris County Sheriff's deputies.

Those same deputies later search Restocruz's car and find condoms,
lubricant, beer and lingerie.

NBC VIDEO

· Dateline catches another sexual predator
Sept. 22: NBC Dateline's Chris Hansen meets up with Aymundo Anguiano,
24, who had thought he was meeting a 14-year-old girl he had met
online.
Today show

There's another first for us in this investigation as well. As you
may have seen before, some of these guys admit to me they have heard of
or seen portions of our programs. But in this investigation you are
going to meet a man who actually admits to me that he has seen not one,
but three of our shows before. And you won't believe what else he
admits to me.

There's one more behind-the-scenes story I'd like the share with
you: Because we were working in a fairly rural area, there were not a
lot of stores nearby. The closest establishment was a gas station. And
that is where some of the 20 men who came to our hidden camera house
stopped to buy beer, condoms, candy and soft drinks. Watch closely in
this investigation and you'll actually see that we were able to
obtain video from the gas station's security camera and use it in
this story.

Part two of the Georgia report airs Dateline Friday, Sept. 22, 9 p.m.

· Sept. 13, 2006 | Live blog

This was Chris Hansen's live blog on that broadcast evening.

8:05 p.m. ET
Live blog (Chris Hansen, Dateline NBC)

It always amazes me how some of the men who come knocking on the door
of our hidden camera houses act like they've developed real
relationships with our decoys during their online chats. They talk like
they've known the boy or girl for a long time and often they appear
comfortable, even confident as they as they walk in the door.

Such is the case with the first man you'll meet tonight. Online, he
calls himself "Scoobydooat101" and he's been chatting for a week with
a decoy from the computer watchdog group Perverted Justice posing as a
15-year-old girl. When Scoobydooat101 walks into the house he chides
our decoy, a 19-year-old actress who looks much younger, for giving him
bad directions to the house. The decoy says she has to finish some
laundry and ducks out of the room.

Moments later, I walk in and Scoobydooat101 doesn't seem so
comfortable anymore. It turns out the man who talked about teaching a
15 year-old girl all kinds of creative ways to have sex had even seen
some of our previous "To Catch A Predator" investigations and shows
up anyway.

It's something that is happening more and more in our investigations
and has prompted one of the questions I am most frequently asked: Why
do these guys still show up after so many high profile programs on
predators? I think there are a couple of reasons. My sense is that many
of these guys think their odds of getting caught are pretty slim.
Dateline, Perverted Justice and Law enforcement can't be everywhere.
Other men seem no longer able to control their compulsions. Porn sites
and explicit chat are no longer enough to satisfy them. Actually
meeting a young teen for sex is apparently the only way to fulfill
their fantasy.

8:20 p.m.
Each one of "To Catch A Predator investigations has its' own unique
rhythm. Sometimes guys will start showing up all at once on a Friday
afternoon and then there'll be hours of no activity. Sometimes it's
a steady parade. Sometimes things happen that are beyond out control.
Here in Fortson, Ga, about a 90-minute drive south from Atlanta, we
experience behind-the-scenes drama we've not seen before. On the
second day of our investigation, a heat wave in California causes a
power outage that in turn makes Yahoo chat rooms crash across the
country for nearly nine hours. No chat rooms means no chat. We lose
contact with several of the men talking with Perverted Justice decoys,
potential predators obviously couldn't use the chat rooms and it was
hard to keep track of the guys who had said they were going to visit.

When the Yahoo chat rooms come back, it's almost like starting over.
By the time we start operating under normal conditions it's Sunday
July 23, the night before the funeral for two dear friends of mine, Pat
and Peggy Higdon, who had recently died in a tragic accident while
vacationing. I leave Georgia for the funeral Sunday night. It's
Wednesday by the time I make it back to our house in Fortson. The whole
team's pretty weary at this point, but with the chat rooms working,
there was again a steady stream of men heading in the door.

8:33 p.m.
This may surprise you, but here in Georgia, a number of men who showed
up apparently intending to have sex with a minor after explicit online
chats had close ties to organized religion.  After meeting and chatting
with someone who told him she was a 15 year-old virgin, Zavior01 asks
his new friend if she's ever had an orgasm? The decoy says "I
don't think so" and Zavior01 says: "good."

Zavior01 turns out to be a 32-year-old media director at his church-- a
position working with young teens. Then there's an all American
clean-cut looking man who has a Myspace page that says: "Jesus
Rocks" and that his number one hero is God. But he had better hope
that God wasn't looking when he was chatting online with a decoy from
Perverted Justice. Much of the chat is too graphic to include here. As
you'll soon see he'll be detailing his "conflicts" to me and
then later to police.

8:50 p.m.
Then there's 35-year-old Marvin Smith. For the better part of a week
he chatted with a decoy posing as a 15 year-old girl. It was absolutely
one of the most graphic chats I've seen in all of the investigations
so far. He details what he wants to do to the girl. He introduces the
decoy to a woman he says is his girlfriend and suggests three way sex.
He even brags that he has had sex with another 15 year-old girl. Smith
who online goes by the screen name Swgamaleyess has been saying all
week that he's going to show up at our house. Time after time he
stands us up. We started to think that he was getting satisfaction from
the chat and wouldn't really come over. Finally, on the last day of
our investigation he pulls into our driveway and walks into our kitchen
with hidden cameras rolling. He asks our decoy for a hug and when he
starts to follow her into the next room he sees one of our cameramen
and bolts. Smith doesn't get very far. What happens next is a first
for us. When Smith tries to run from the deputies, he's shot by a
Taser and knocked to the ground. It's not until he's questioned by
detectives that we learn Smith also has a religious side saying he used
to be a Baptist minister.

And that's just half of what we saw in Georgia. On Friday, September
22 we'll show you the rest.

9:00 p.m.
And as always, we hope investigations such as these prompt
conversations within families about using the Internet safely.