Chris Hansen

March 9, 2020

Hi Reddit! I am Chris Hansen, former host of Dateline NBC's To Catch a Predator and Crime Watch. Take a seat....and ask me anything.

Hi Reddit!

I'm Chris Hansen from Dateline NBC's To Catch a Predator and Crime Watch Daily.

Here to answer anything from the Reddit community and will be answering with video responses via Cameo

Proof: https://imgur.com/a/hxzwZcc

Let's do this......ask me anything!

edit: Big thanks for ALL the questions Reddit! Signing off for now, but always a fun time participating with fans and answering your questions.



How much was staged or recreated for tape and cohesion, and how much was raw footage?

None of it was staged. It was all real footage. Obviously we edit for TV, but it is ALL real footage

More details here


How worried are you about your upcoming harassment trial?

Well, it's not a trial. It was a complaint in New Jersey that launched a complaint against me and used a hijacked website. We got that website taken down. Am I worried about it? Absolutely not.


Was there any To Catch a Predator footage that you weren't allowed to air? If so, what happened and why?

No, virtually in every case where a suspect came in, some cases were more compelling than others. Some things were just difficult to put on television because of the content. Everything we captured was aired in one way or another.


What ever happened to Onision, aka Onionboy, in certain circles?

I wanna know if he got brought to justice yet. Or are you still working on it?

Still working on it! Here's some details about it


I still haven't received that autographed 8x10 from your Kickstarter campaign a few years ago. Can you please address that?

Update - Chris responded to help fix the issue.

Absolutely. Sometimes these things get unwieldy, but if you send me proof of purchase and your address, send me a DM to this account and I'll get that fixed for you ASAP.


Have you ever thought about making a show to catch and humiliate corrupt cops and Judges?

I think the vast majority of cops and judges are honest. but there are cases of problems. If we become aware of that, please reach out to this account and we will investigate. If we knew about it, we would investigate it.


What are you up to now?

Well, I'm quite busy actually. I got two televisions projects going. I was interviewing victims on a big case, and I will be revealing more soon.

Doing a few other projects too. It's a good time.


And do you blaze?

Well...The answer is no. But..several years ago, I was in Colorado with my son. And it was legal. It's not your father's marijuana. It's nothing like in Michigan State when I was coming up.


So Chris, when do we start taking down more of the high elite pedophiles?

I like to use the word "predator" because it is apter. I'm in the midst of doing that right now. There is a billionaire that is currently accused of doing this for over 30 years. It was one of the most compelling stories I've ever worked on, and will reveal more soon.


In To Catch a Predator, there's been many disturbing cases. Do you ever bring any of it back home? How do you cope with it?

That is interesting because you get in such a zone when you do these things. It does stick with you. It is emotional, it is draining to get inside a predator's mind. You realize what would happen if the decoy was a real child. You understand that it is to educate and create a dialogue. It's worth in the end. You just accept it's for the greater good.

More detail here


What was the longest prison sentence imposed as a consequence of getting outed on To Catch A Predator?

If memory serves me correctly, there was an older fellow in Riverside, California. He was a repeat offender and got a 24 year sentence.

Here's the story


After Onision, are you going to go after Drake?

I have a number of potential targets who have been accused of different sorts of impropriety online. We will continue our investigation into the Youtube psychopath Onsion and am investigating several cases as we speak.


You are unaware if the men are armed during catch a predator so - How did you feel during the early days of filming? What precautions were in place?

We try to do background checks to see if they have a permit to carry a handgun. If there is talk of weapons, the police will arrest the predator before he gets into the home. You never know, so it's always intense and you have to watch the body language. I have personal security, and everyone else has security, so we are as safe as we can be.

More details here


Which predator smelled the worst?

I try not to get too close. I can tell you during the riverside investigation, the guy walked into the kitchen and said "I stink, I need a shower". I was standing there with a paper towel, and it blew his mind. That's the one that sticks out


Did you ever feel sorry for any of the people that showed up to meet? Seems like a lot of them had severe mental health problems

There was an investigation in California, and there was a guy with a scar from a head injury. I felt bad for him, and what happened to him, and it may have blurred his judgment. A matter of weeks later, he surfaced in another investigation. He had done a year in jail for a violent assault, and I didn't feel so sorry for him at that point.

More explanation here for you


Did you like the South Park episode about you?

South Park doesn't tell you beforehand they are doing the episode, and I got a text from my agent that south park is doing you tonight and it's funny. Finally got credibility with my kids.


Have any cases that appeared on the show been invalidated due to claims of entrapment?

No, it's not entrapment because we are now law enforcement. Also, the decoy makes it very obvious, and says who they are explicitly. By the time the suspected predator arrives, in most states, solicitation of a minor has already happened. To my knowledge, no one has ever walked.


Were there any predators you were worried for your own safety when talking to them? Like, they would just decide "fuck it" and lunge at you?

A couple of times. One, in particular, was a navy guy that came towards where the decoy was, and where we were. He was well built, and he looked like he could take a punch. Nothing happened, thankfully.

Another guy was a rabbi that lunged trying to grab explicit photos of a victim to dispose of. Nothing further happened there.


What was the worst answer a predator gave you?

So many bad answers. This is the one that comes to mind


Has there ever been a predator that "got away" and you know for sure that they're guilty? How do you deal with something like that?

Almost everybody who showed up didn't get away. Sometimes there were early investigations that went nowhere because the police weren't in a parallel investigation.

One guy comes to mind that walked into the house naked, and he gets spooked, dresses, and leaves.

The next day, there was a commotion in the decoy room. They said you won't believe this but he's at McDonald's. I almost didn't know what to say when I confronted him. Here's how it happened


This interview was transcribed from an "ask me anything" question and answer session with Chris Hansen conducted on Reddit on 2020-03-09. The Reddit AMA can be found here.