Perverted-Justice - Media

Media

Volunteers also take part in what the site's operators call "group media busts," where people are invited to a house by a self-proclaimed minor, who is actually a Perverted-Justice volunteer. When they arrive, they are greeted by a television news reporter. The first of these events were conducted in late 2003, in co-operation with investigative reporter John Mercure at Milwaukee's WTMJ-TV, whom the site credits with initially conceiving the concept. Similar events with other local news organizations took place in the following months.

In November 2004, the site teamed up with Dateline NBC in New York to conduct a large sting operation, or "group media bust," entitled To Catch a Predator. Dateline rented a house and wired it with hidden cameras, while volunteers posed as minors in chat rooms, telling users who talked to them that they were home alone. "Within hours there were men literally lining up at our door," Dateline reported. In two-and-a-half days, 18 men showed up at the house after making a date with a Perverted-Justice volunteer.

After the third installment of To Catch a Predator, Perverted-Justice hired an agent and put the group's services out for bid to several television networks. NBC came out ahead and continued the highly rated series. Since then, the To Catch a Predator series of reports has grown into a widely-recognized phenomenon, with busts all over the United States and numerous references and parodies in the media. Law enforcement is now involved in all of the sting operations, and they have arrested men from various backgrounds.