'To Catch a Predator' III

For the next three days we’ll be greeting guests who have no business being here.

Volunteers from Perverted-Justice, experts at pretending to be kids online, are in all types of chat rooms—from local area chats to rooms setup for sexual preferences. And they’ve set up profiles of 12- and 13-year-olds, which include photos and other personal information. Some are on Web sites like MySpace.com and Teenspot, social networking Web sites.  

They’re waiting to be hit on by adults looking for sex. The Perverted-Justice decoys tell the adults they are home alone and sometimes they say they are interested in sex, a few pretend they are eager to meet.

In a matter of seconds, men start chatting with the undercover decoys. Typically, a chat will begin with each person typing in their age, sex, and location. One decoy, screenamed “bubblebeth2005” has a picture in her profile of a “Dateline” staffer taken when she was 12. There was no mistaking this is a child. 

A man who has seen her picture and her age wastes no time before talking dirty. He’s  “kinky_man_in_corona.” He says he’s 40 and shows “bubblebeth” a picture of a penis on his profile. And as you’ll read below, on an excerpt of the chat log, he’s making plans for sex with the girl whose profile says she’s 12.

kinky-man-in corona (chat log transcript): yes I do want to come over--- would love to get you naked.

bubblebeth2005: 4 realz, I’ve never done that b4

kinky-man-in-corona: well would do more than that

bubblebeth2004: like wut? 

kinky-man-in-corona: well i would get naked to and we would have sex.

His chat, along with all of the other chats sent to our decoys, gets too graphic and disgusting to show. Usually, the men like to get very specific about what they want to do sexually.

And he comes walking up to the driveway of the house. “Kinky-man-in-corona” arrives, looking to meet “bubblebeth.”

We did background research on him and learned he’s really 43-year-old Walter Edward Babst—a married man with children.

Chris Hansen, Dateline correspondent (hidden camera footage): Hey, how are you?

Babst: Good— am I under arrest?

Hansen: Have a seat.

He had no idea he’s being recorded by our hidden cameras.

Hansen: What are you doing here?

Babst: Getting my ass kicked.

Hansen: Getting your ass kicked.

Babst: Yeah, I knew it, I knew it was a set up.

Hansen: I need you to sit down.

Babst: I need you to arrest me and take me to jail and execute me.

Hansen: I need to talk with you first.

Babst: Because you know what, I didn’t bring anything, I didn’t want to do anything.

Hansen: But why did you come here? Help me to understand.

Babst: Because I am a sick son of a bitch. I have never did it before I talk about it online all the time. I have never done anything with anybody except my wife. Ever.

Hansen: What are you doing here on a Saturday morning, coming into a house where you believe a 12- or 13-year-old kid is home alone, with no parents here?

Hansen: Do you have kids?

Babst: Yeah I do.

Hansen: Well how would you feel if some guy walked into your house trying to hook up with your kids?

Babst: I’d feel pissed.

And you’ll never guess what this man does for a living.

Babst: I’m in education.

Hansen: You’re in education?

Babst: Yeah.

Hansen: You’re a teacher?

Babst: Umm hmm.

Hansen: What grade do you teach?

Babst: High school.

Hansen: High school?

Babst: Yes.

It’s a high school not too far from our undercover house.

More men underway
The men were asked to walk down the side of the house in California and come in through the sliding glass door in the back.

Several men made it into the kitchen, and as soon as they saw me, made a run for it. But they didn’t get very far: They ran right into the arms of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

One man, “uncommonsense2,” says he’s 34 years old and thinks he’s talking to a 13-year-old girl. He brags that his genitals are pierced three times. And then he tells our decoy “getting you out of your clothes is the best.”

Before “uncommonsense2” or any other man comes to the house, a volunteer from Perverted-Justice will usually speak with him on the phone.  Thirteen-year-old “Del,” her screename, is able to pose as a girl or a boy.

He’s 39-year-old Scott Smith who’s in the moving business. Unbelievably, he was caught by a Perverted-Justice member talking to a young teen online a month earlier and was given a warning and told to stop. But it doesn’t appear he’s learned his lesson.

Hansen (hidden camera footage): Hey, how are you?

Scott Smith: Alright.

Hansen: Why don’t you have a seat.

Smith’s brought along alcohol—a six-pack of Smirnoff Ice.

Hansen: So a month ago, you got caught by Perverted-Justice.

Smith: Well, I didn’t say “I got caught,” she just said that.

Hansen: Talking to somebody who said they were underage?

Smith: Yeah.

Hansen: And did you learn your lesson from that?

Smith: I guess not. Not really.

He also admits to chatting with young girls on the Web site MySpace.com

Hansen: You check out the myspace sites of young women?

Smith: I just whatever is in the chatroom and I go to see their picture and I click on it and it goes to myspace or something like that.

Smith, like so many other men who walked through our door, says he wasn’t planning on doing anything.

Smith: I just wanted to talk to her and that was it. Just to see what makes her tick.

Hansen: Did you send her any pictures?

Smith: I didn’t send her anything other than what was on my little window.

Hansen: What kind of pictures.

Smith: My face.

His face and something else.

Smith: Pictures of my penis.

Hansen: Pictures of your penis?

Smith: Well, not necessarily of my penis, but pictures, yeah.

And as for the alcohol he brought, he says that wasn’t for the 13-year old—it was for her mother.

Smith: She asked me to bring some of that for her mom cause she said she was drinking her mom’s coolers or something.

Hansen: For her mom? You know I have the transcripts.

Smith: Yes, she did. She said that she wanted me to bring some of those because she...

Hansen: For her, because she liked them.

For three days, there is another non-stop parade of potential predators. Many of the men like “uncommonsense2” brought gifts like alcohol and condoms. One man, “mr-b-jones2” has a bag full of goodies.

Jerry Griffith, 45, arrived at the house to meet a 13-year-old girl. Online, our decoy asked him if he’d bring a present. He says “You got any ideas?” She types back “I like pie.” 

So what do you suppose is in the bag when he arrives?

Del (hidden camera footage): What’d you bring me?

Jerry Griffith: I brought you an apple pie, some whipped cream.

Hansen: (surprises him) So we have quite the shopping bag full of stuff there, huh? Why don’t you have a seat on that stool?

Griffith: How’s it going?

Griffith says he thought the girl he’s here to meet is 22 years old, and at first can’t remember her name.

Griffith: She said her name was 22-- I mean she said she was 22.

Hansen: She said her name was 22?

Griffith: No, she said she was 22.

But I remind him that there’s a transcript of everything that was said.

Hansen: You had a long conversation about the fact that she was 13. You asked her if it’s going to be a problem. And furthermore, you talk about how she should make sure that there are no friends around.

Griffith: I don’t know what to tell you.

I refresh his memory by reading some of his chat log.

Hansen: “Hey do you want me to spend the night? Sure maybe you can bring some beer. Yeah, that would be rocking cool but you can’t have any friends over that would be too risky.” She talks about bringing a pie and here’s a pie. What else did you bring?

Griffith: I brought some Tums. And I brought some whipped cream. And I brought some other stuff.

Hansen: Like what?

Griffith: Contraceptives.

Hansen: Contraceptives.

Griffith: Yes.

When a suspect brings gifts like these to a possible liaison, it actually helps law enforcement says the deputy district attorney.

Michelle Paradise, Deputy District Attorney: It helps show intent. What was the purpose of them going there? They brought the items that they talked about in the same conversations that they talked about having sex. 

So far you’ve met three men who showed up at our hidden camera house... they are just the beginning of what will become the largest turnout we’ve ever gotten.  

And as you’ll see these potential predators come from all walks of life and all age groups. When it comes to occupations, the high school teacher is far from the only one whose profession will shock you.

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