NBC settles ‘To Catch a Predator’ suicide
p2pnet news | TV:- Louis ‘Bill Conradt, a 56-year-old assistant district attorney, killed himself in 2006 after being confronted at his Texas home by police officers and an NBC news crew during an alleged child-predator sting, p2pnet said in February.
A jury might conclude the network, “crossed the line from responsible journalism to irresponsible and reckless intrusion into law enforcement,” US district judge Denny Chin ruled in New York, said the Dallas Morning News.
Now the NBC has settled a $105 million lawsuit brought by Conradt’s family, says the New York Times, going on >>>
The lawsuit spotlighted the techniques used by the hidden-camera program to attract men online by having someone pose as an under-age girl in a chat room, then luring them to a house where they were confronted by a camera crew and host. While “To Catch a Predator” drew high ratings for NBC, ethical questions were raised over the program’s all-access arrangements with the local police and an online watchdog group.
Mr. Conradt, an assistant district attorney in Rockwall County, Tex., had reportedly sent sexually explicit messages to a person he believed was under-age. It turned out that the person was a volunteer for Perverted Justice, an activist group that helps set up stings to catch child sexual predators. The group was a paid consultant for NBC in the “Predator” series.
The volunteer posing as a child arranged to meet with Mr. Conradt in November 2006, as part of a four-day sting in Texas facilitated by a local police department. The sting led to 25 arrests, but Mr. Conradt did not show up at the bait house, so the local police, encouraged by NBC (according to the lawsuit), decided to arrest him at his home.
As the police and camera crews entered the home, Mr. Conradt shot himself in the head.
NBC refused to comment on the details of the settlement, and wouldn’t say if an apology to Mr. Conradt’s family would be issued.
“The resolution of the lawsuit caps a controversial chapter for ‘Dateline,’ which drew both ratings bonanzas and sharp critiques for its ‘To Catch a Predator’ investigations,” says the Los Angeles Times.
“In the segments, which NBC began airing in 2004, the newsmagazine worked with an Internet watchdog group called Perverted Justice to contact men online who were seeking to meet underage children for sex, then lure them to a house, where they were confronted on camera. Police waiting outside then arrested the men,” it says.
“Media ethicists objected to the deception used in the investigation, as well as NBC’s close relationship with law enforcement agencies in the jurisdictions where it set up stings.”
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p2pnet - NBC ‘Predator’ suicide case goes ahead, February 27, 2008
Dallas Morning News - Judge rules suit related to NBC sex-sting can move forward, February 26, 2008
New York Times - NBC Settles With Family That Blamed a TV Investigation for a Man’s Suicide, June 26, 2008
Los Angeles Times - NBC resolves lawsuit over ‘To Catch a Predator’ suicide, June 24, 2008
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