NBC Settles With Family That Blamed a TV Investigation for a Man’s Suicide
By BRIAN STELTER
Published: June 26, 2008
NBC has settled a lawsuit filed by the family of a man who killed himself when confronted with cameras for the documentary series “To Catch a Predator.”
The family of Louis W. Conradt Jr. filed a $105 million lawsuit last year against NBC, which ran the “Predator” episode as part of its “Dateline NBC” newsmagazine series. The network refused to disclose the amount it paid to the family.
“The matter has been amicably resolved to the satisfaction of both parties,” an NBC spokeswoman, Jenny Tartikoff, said in a statement.
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.
Last winter, when the ABC newsmagazine “20/20” investigated the “Predator” sting, Walter Weiss, a former detective with the police department that had worked with “Dateline,” said: “I understand he took his own life, but I have a feeling that he took his own life when he looked out the door and saw there was a bunch of television cameras outside.”
Mr. Conradt’s family agreed and filed a lawsuit. NBC maintained that the suit had no merit. In February a judge dismissed some of the lawsuit’s claims, but declared that a jury “could find that NBC crossed the line from responsible journalism to irresponsible and reckless intrusion into law enforcement.” The two parties reached a settlement before a trial could begin.
NBC would not comment on the details of the settlement, and would not say whether an apology to Mr. Conradt’s family would be issued. The Los Angeles Times, which first reported the resolution on Tuesday, said that the “Dateline” Web site had removed references to the Texas sting. The network would not comment on whether it had been removed as part of the settlement.
NBC has broadcast only two new “Predator” investigations in the last 12 months, and it appears the televised sex predator stings will not be repeated anytime soon. “Right now we are working on other investigative stories,” Ms. Tartikoff said in an e-mail message.
By BRIAN STELTER
Published: June 26, 2008
NBC has settled a lawsuit filed by the family of a man who killed himself when confronted with cameras for the documentary series “To Catch a Predator.”
The family of Louis W. Conradt Jr. filed a $105 million lawsuit last year against NBC, which ran the “Predator” episode as part of its “Dateline NBC” newsmagazine series. The network refused to disclose the amount it paid to the family.
“The matter has been amicably resolved to the satisfaction of both parties,” an NBC spokeswoman, Jenny Tartikoff, said in a statement.
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.
Last winter, when the ABC newsmagazine “20/20” investigated the “Predator” sting, Walter Weiss, a former detective with the police department that had worked with “Dateline,” said: “I understand he took his own life, but I have a feeling that he took his own life when he looked out the door and saw there was a bunch of television cameras outside.”
Mr. Conradt’s family agreed and filed a lawsuit. NBC maintained that the suit had no merit. In February a judge dismissed some of the lawsuit’s claims, but declared that a jury “could find that NBC crossed the line from responsible journalism to irresponsible and reckless intrusion into law enforcement.” The two parties reached a settlement before a trial could begin.
NBC would not comment on the details of the settlement, and would not say whether an apology to Mr. Conradt’s family would be issued. The Los Angeles Times, which first reported the resolution on Tuesday, said that the “Dateline” Web site had removed references to the Texas sting. The network would not comment on whether it had been removed as part of the settlement.
NBC has broadcast only two new “Predator” investigations in the last 12 months, and it appears the televised sex predator stings will not be repeated anytime soon. “Right now we are working on other investigative stories,” Ms. Tartikoff said in an e-mail message.
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