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Some child predators share too much—and get caught in very public ways. Dateline NBC correspondent Chris Hansen—along with the help of an online predator vigilante group called Perverted Justice—has helped arrest nearly 150 suspected child predators through televised stings.
Dateline crews set up shop in a neighborhood home, and Perverted Justice decoys posing as teenagers wait for predators to contact them in Internet chat rooms. The suspects arrange a time to meet the decoy at the house. Crews set up hidden cameras and microphones and have police officers stationed outside the house. Once the suspect is inside, Chris and his camera crews confront him.
Among those captured on tape is high school teacher Walter Edward Babst (pictured on left), charged with one count of an attempted lewd act with a minor. "I knew it was a set up," he said when confronted by Chris. He has pleaded not guilty and awaits a court appearance.
Another suspect, Lee Greer (pictured on right), allegedly sent a 13-year-old girl lewd photos and promised to let her see "the real thing" in person. "I told her they were dirty pictures and she wanted to see them so I showed them," he says.
Greer faces three counts of unlawful acts against children. He has pleaded not guilty and awaits trial.
Another man, David Kaye, allegedly set up a date with someone he thought was 13 years old—after sending graphic pictures and carrying on a lewd conversation online. When he showed up at the Dateline house, Chris learned that Kaye was a rabbi at a Jewish youth educational organization. When asked what he was doing in the home, Kaye responded, "Not something good."
Kaye was convicted of enticement, coercion and traveling with the intent of having sex with a minor in a Maryland federal court. He faces five to 30 years in prison.
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