by Paula Neal Mooney

I give much respect to TV journalist Chris Hansen of NBC’s “To Catch a Predator” series for his brave work in catching older men who tromp off hours away from home to meet what they believe are 12- and 13-year-old kids for sex.

Last night I watched the first episodes of the latest Dateline ‘To Catch a Predator’ series, now with videos online, as Chris Hansen nabbed them in a swanky Ocean County, New Jersey beach house.

(Just look for “as seen on the broadcast” on the right-hand side of NBC’s site to watch videos on the New Jersey sting.)


Of course, many of the guys just made me mad: like the 53-year-old guy who thought he was going to hook up with a girl 40 years younger than him.

It also tripped me out how many of these men just wanted to get down to the deed without much foreplay.

There was one married father to a 7-year-old girl who brought his camera and wanted to go straight upstairs. He’s the one who’d asked the 13-year-old online for pictures of her boobies. When he was caught, he sweat profusely and didn’t wipe any of it off — he just sat there in bugged-eyed terror, lying about his intentions.

I had more compassion for the 25-year-old who talked about not being able to get girls and having low self-esteem. (Not that this is an excuse for child rape.)

But a lot of these 20-somethings dressed really young, like teenagers.

Them seem stunted in their emotional growth somehow. I’m guessing that plenty of them were probably sexually abused themselves in their youth.

Either way, I was happy to see a lot of them go down — literally, to the ground, face in sand (some weeping, one reluctantly) as the cops brought them to their rock-bottom and arrested them.

I can’t wait to see it next week, when one guy is going to faint and hit his head against the infamous table where the girl serves up brownies to her horny predators-turned-prey-without-a-job-and-wife-and-kids.

Great work, Hansen.

I’m praying that the proposed $100 million lawsuit against Chris Hansen and Dateline NBC comes to naught.

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