Thursday, April 19, 2007

Fort Myers: Dateline NBC Correspondent Chris Hansen was back in Southwest Florida.


Hansen is best known for his confrontational program "To Catch A Predator". He was here last year to bust predators in Fort Myers. But many of those predators have yet to be prosecuted. NBC's Patrick Flanary talked to Hansen about why that is.

Chris Hansen's appearance took place on the very day state Senators passed a new law getting tougher on online predators.

Wednesday night the familiar correspondent took his message from the screen to a packed student union at FGCU.

Speaking to child welfare advocates, the confrontational correspondent addressed just how easy it is for potential predators to befriend your son or daughter.

"Those guys are very adept at breaking down the traditional barriers that exist between adult and child society, said Hansen."

Once the men cross that line, they're eligible for harder time behind bars. In fact, the very act of traveling to visit a child for sex now means a maximum of 15 years in the state of Florida.

Just last year , two dozen men walked into a Fort Myers home and left in handcuffs.

"It was an eye opening investigation, certainly one of the most significant ones we've done, said Hansen.

Teamed up with Perverted Justice, camera crews, and decoys, Hansen told NBC2 out of 10 investigations, he found what Dateline found in Fort Myers most disturbing.

We had things happen that you never could have predicted. A guy walks in naked, a guy brings his son, said Hansen

Govenor Charlie Crist has declared the third week of April as " Cyber-Crime Awareness week."

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