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Judge Says To Catch a Predator Lawsuit Can Proceed
A $100 million lawsuit that charges Dateline NBC with causing the suicide of a former Texas prosecutor ensnared in one of its To Catch a Predator investigations is moving forward. A federal judge ruled Tuesday that claims made in the suit filed by Patricia Conradt, the sister of Louis Conradt, can proceed to trial.
Conradt, 56, shot himself in November 2006 after he was confronted at his Terrell, Texas, home by police officers accompanying a Dateline crew. Police were attempting to arrest Conradt after he solicited sex from a decoy posing as a 13-year-old boy during a Predator sting operation. While some charges in the lawsuit were dismissed, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin said "a reasonable jury could find NBC crossed the line from responsible journalism to irresponsible and reckless intrusion into law enforcement." The judge also ruled that NBC appeared to be "pushing police to engage in tactics that were unnecessary and unwise, solely to generate more dramatic footage for a television show."
In a statement, NBC said it would continue to challenge the lawsuit: "We think the evidence will ultimately show that Dateline acted responsibly and lawfully and we will continue to defend ourselves vigorously. The judge's ruling was based solely on the plaintiff's version of the facts [and] for purposes of this motion only, the judge was required under law to accept [them] as true." — Stephen Battaglio
Related:
• Has NBC Preyed on Its Last Predator?
• NBC Sued for $105 Mil over Predator Suicide
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Feb 26, 2008 7:21 PM
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That man shot himself and Dateline should not be held responsible for any of it. In fact he took the easy way out of taking responsibility. His sister needs to apologize to whoever he may have preyed on instead of trying to make money.
I have seen To Catch a Predator and most of the people they catch have more likely than not A) seen the show before but show up anyway and B) committed the same or a similar crime before. They were arrested. Conradt decided not to be.
If she gets any money I hope that any minor he may have hurt sues her in turn.
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Feb 26, 2008 8:19 PM
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http://www.esquire.com/features/predator0907
The above article was linked by a poster in one of the related threads. It is terrifically well-written, and gives a very rounded account of what went down that day. Worth reading instead of having the knee-jerk "who cares -- he's a perv" response. Like I first did.
This will be a very interesting case to follow.
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Feb 26, 2008 8:53 PM
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Well, add me to the knee-jerk masses. One less pedophile on the planet, and we're supposed to care in any remote way? Sorry. I'm just happy for all the children whose lives he would have gotten to ruin in the future. Good riddance to that evil bastard. Case dismissed!
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Feb 26, 2008 9:34 PM
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I don't care how To Catch a Predator did what they did, no matter how illegal it was. This guy is a PREDATOR! He is a pedophile. Since when is his life worth 100 million dollars? What about a boy he would have eventually molested? How much would his life have been worth? The kid would be scarred for life...if this sick perv didn't kill him. Sorry but no sympathy for this bastard.
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Feb 26, 2008 10:23 PM
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I honestly don't know how to feel about this. Is Dateline responsible for that man's death, even though Conradt made the decision to shoot himself?
The man who killed himself only did so because he felt embarrassed and ashamed for what he wanted to do with that boy. He was afraid at the thought of the world finding out who he really was and was ashamed of people finding out that he was secretly homosexual and liked having sex with boys. He obviously didn't want his friends, family, loved ones, co-workers to find out the truth, so he shot himself in the end because he didn't want to look at those people in the eye. He didn't want to face those people the next day because he hated the fact that people were going to find out his secret...
So yes, I do think that he took the easy way out because he was ashamed of who he really was. Therefore I'm really not sure if Dateline is to blame for his death since he chose to leave this world on his own regard. But my question is, was Dateline breaking any laws for doing what they did when confronting that man? Is Dateline really in the wrong for what they did? Maybe they are...
However, other men who were caught on the show didn't choose to kill themselves, well none that I'm aware of. If those other men could own up to their crime and go back home to face the ridicule of their friends and family, then why couldn't Conradt do the same? I know that people deal with things differently, but should the family really win money for what happened?
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Feb 26, 2008 10:25 PM
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This is a broken justice system. The family, instead of feeling remorse, turned themselves into victims. Did the family compensate the families whose kids were being abused by Conradt!!!???
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Feb 27, 2008 8:23 AM
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Sorry, I guess I'm of the knee-jerk "who cares" kind as well. I will NEVER feel sorry for a pedophile. NEVER. Yes, it's a shame that the family gets dragged through the mud as a result of this, but they should be placing the blame on the brother, not Dateline. How would they feel if Dateline had not caught him, and he actually went on to assault a child? Would they still feel sorry for him? Sorry, no sympathy from me and the family should get no money. Are they trying to capitalize off his death? 100 million dollars? Ridiculous.
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Feb 27, 2008 8:56 AM
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(oops, double post)...I'm getting like my crazy old relatives, repeating the same story again and again.... 
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Feb 27, 2008 9:31 AM
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To be fair, I don't think it's up to family members of a pedophile to feel remorse. I don't think they should sue like this, but they aren't (necessarily) linked to a relative's bad behavior.
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Feb 27, 2008 9:31 AM
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No big loss with the perv that shot himself, but NBC went too far with this show. It's not like the show deterred these guys at all. It was all for ratings. The show clearly did not stop a predator. Actually all the show had to offer was a continual revolving door for them. OK, so they get arrested, but I bet that none have been stopped.
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Feb 27, 2008 9:38 AM
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I have absolutely no remorse that this guy shot himself. He was a predator and the only way to "fix" this type of individual is to remove them from society permanently! This guy chose to do that himself.
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Feb 27, 2008 9:45 AM
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If family members know that one of them commits sexual crimes and do not report to the authority, they are as guilty as the one actually did the crimes.
Anyway, if this family wants someone to blame, they can only have themselves to blame. They should have be more observant and offer help to the dead guy.
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Feb 27, 2008 11:08 AM
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If family members know that one of them commits sexual crimes and do not report to the authority, they are as guilty as the one actually did the crimes.
john_c11, I agree completely.
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Feb 27, 2008 11:37 AM
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Call me naive, but I'm holding out hope that the family won't be able to find a jury that will side with them against NBC. The man was a local prosecutor and he had encryption on his computer almost as sophisticated as that used by the military or national security. He wasn't merely trying to secure law enforcement documents and his litigation strategy.
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Feb 27, 2008 12:07 PM
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