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[Allforce]

Uh what is this? They got camera men in the house? Yeah this ain't made up or anything, no no..

The setup is always the same, the show rents a house, rigs it up with cameras everywhere, and lures the guy over and has the "victim" there answer the door. This victim is always a 18+ woman who looks younger just to bait the guy into thinking it's legit and he's gonna score.

Then the girl says something like "I'm gonna go get changed" or usually even just calls out to the guy as he comes in "I'm in the back, I'll be out in a second, make yourself comfortable!" And the guy does. When she vanishes Chris Hansen makes his glorious entrance, usually in a hilarious way with a one-liner.

That gif you're quoting had the guy come in the house, the girl told him to get comfortable and then left the room, he got naked for some bizarre reason, and Hansen then knocked on the front door and the guy answered the door like a buffoon.

 

[foxtrot3d]

I support the show as a deterrent. If it stops even one pedophile from making a move, it justifies itself.

How can the show be a more effective deterrent than the law? That same law which marks you as a sex offender for life. These people are not in their right minds when they commit such acts, they aren't logically performing some cost benefit analysis. The show is nothing more than cheap entertainment that I feel we can do without. Lock them up or get them help we don't need an entire dog and pony show before the whole world that only serves to appease baseline human urge to point fingers at and go "look at the freak."

Tell me what's the difference between this and the public executions and shaming conducted through the antiquity and well past the Middle Ages? You know where they hang a guy and you bring the whole family out to watch and throw stones at? Or the "whore" wife who dared to commit adultery and thus the whole town gets to throw vegetables at and slut shame? It's the same thing just dressed up for modern society.

 

[Sgt.EntryEnass]

I wonder if this coming back has anything to do with Brian Williams being taken off air?

 

[Red]

How can the show be a more effective deterrent than the law? That same law which marks you as a sex offender for life. These people are not in their right minds when they commit such acts, they aren't logically performing some cost benefit analysis. The show is nothing more than cheap entertainment that I feel we can do without. Lock them up or get them help we don't need an entire dog and pony show before the whole world that only serves to appease baseline human urge to point fingers at and go "look at the freak."

Tell me what's the difference between this and the public executions and shaming conducted through the antiquity and well past the Middle Ages? You know where they hang a guy and you bring the whole family out to watch and throw stones at? Or the "whore" wife who dared to commit adultery and thus the whole town gets to throw vegetables at and slut shame? It's the same thing just dressed up for modern society.

One difference is the crime, and I'm not sure you thought your analogy all the way through if you are comparing adultery to pedophilia. Unless you did, in which case I can only disagree.

I stand by what I said before. If even one crime is prevented due to the influence of this show, it will have been worthwhile. Your umbrage is irrelevant.

A better argument against my stance might be the question, what if someone pursues this crime simply to be on television? What if someone studies these scenarios to figure out how to get away with it? Then it is a failure, as evil has outweighed the good. Your anger at the dog and pony show adds no weight to the scale at evil's end. It is just fluff, meaningless in the grand scale of things.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

This is an odd subject for people to push the #notallmen/spectacle is bad argument

 

[riotous]

Wait, so he just enters this random house, finds it empty, assumes that the decoy will turn up and proceeds to get naked? Not weird at all. Some of this definitely seems staged.

It's not staged; these people get arested. You can look the cases up.

I don't recall exactly why that guy took his clothes off; I think it was the fantasy in his chat.

The camera people are hidden in closets and stuff.

 

[Enco]

Is the show really watchable? Based on the premise alone I don't think I could sit through an episode.

i would say it's the most difficult to watch show.

I don't like it. Publicly shaming people doesn't help. It's exploiting other for views.

 

[PSqueak]

Wait, so he just enters this random house, finds it empty, assumes that the decoy will turn up and proceeds to get naked? Not weird at all. Some of this definitely seems staged.

They put the decoy in the rented house, the decoy recieved the guy and told him to wait while the decoy goes do something else, guy got naked in anticipation for the decoy, assumes knock on the door is decoy coming back, "take a seat".

Not too hard to understand.

 

[foxtrot3d]

One difference is the crime, and I'm not sure you thought your analogy all the way through if you are comparing adultery to pedophilia. Unless you did, in which case I can only disagree.

I stand by what I said before. If even one crime is prevented due to the influence of this show, it will have been worthwhile. Your umbrage is irrelevant.

A better argument against my stance might be the question, what if someone pursues this crime simply to be on television? What if someone studies these scenarios to figure out how to get away with it? Then it is a failure, as evil has outweighed the good. Your anger at the dog and pony show adds no weight to the scale at evil's end. It is just fluff, meaningless in the grand scale of things.

First, we do not base society on purely utilitarian "good outweighs evil concerns" else prisoners and criminals would have very little rights and the death penalty would have completely justified. Second, you seem to have skipped my first example of a public execution. The point is a crime is a crime and the law is the law which proscribes a punishment. It is not there for the public's enjoyment to feel vengeance or ridicule of the accused. You don't get to stand outside with your whole family and throw rocks at the murderer and call him nasty names as they fit a noose around his neck. It doesn't matter if this additional shaming might deter other murderers it is inherently wrong and shows no respect for the rights of the accused.

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

animegaf gonna need to doublecheck those 1,000 year old birth certs

oh lawd

 

[Red]

First, we do not base society on purely utilitarian "good outweighs evil concerns" else prisoners and criminals would have very little rights and the death penalty would have completely justified. Second, you seem to have skipped my first example of a public execution. The point is a crime is a crime and the law is the law which proscribes a punishment. It is not there for the public's enjoyment to feel vengeance or ridicule of the accused. You don't get to stand outside with your whole family and throw rocks at the murderer and call him nasty names as they fit a noose around his neck. It doesn't matter if this additional shaming might deter other murderers it is inherently wrong and shows no respect for the rights of the accused.

You can go on and on about respect and dignity for pedophiles and how viewers of Hanson's show are vile and morally corrupt, but I will not care.

I am not talking about what society should do or what foundation it builds its laws on. I am talking about how I feel about this controversy. You say I can't ridicule a murderer. Well, why not?

Chris Hansen doesn't have Regular Joe assaulting or throwing rocks at pedos. He televises their hopes of rape and subsequent arrest. What is the difference between this and a televised murder trial?

 

[CornBurrito]

Yeah, I don't agree with letting a camera crew and host going around and entrapping people.

Using the internet meme status to help fund it is shady.

They got into a lot of trouble cuz of this show

I never watched the show, but how much entrapment was it? Did they initiate the conversations with shit like "I'm 9 years old and DTF an older man!" or did they just enter chat rooms and say "I am 9" and then trick people who then initiated conversation with the goal of sexually assaulting a child?

In either case I can't say I particularly sympathize with the would-be child abuser.

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

Yeah, I don't agree with letting a camera crew and host going around and entrapping people.

Using the internet meme status to help fund it is shady.

They got into a lot of trouble cuz of this show

It's not entrapment. Pretty sure the cops never ask if the pedos want to come over, or have sex, they are just waiting and responding to what ever the guys say.

 

[CornBurrito]

That's been happening for awhile and has nothing to do with the topic at hand, which is adult men having sexual conversations with children online.

It is weird, one time when I was 14 I went on a porn site and suddenly got this chat message from a girl named Brittney. Brittney somehow knew what area I lived in and insisted that she wanted to meet up with me for some fun times. I was scared but turned on at the same time. I didn't know what to do. Has this show ever had an adult female on it, trying to prey on underaged boys? Or was it always adult men?

 

[DoktorEvil]

It is weird, one time when I was 14 I went on a porn site and suddenly got this chat message from a girl named Brittney. Brittney somehow knew what area I lived in and insisted that she wanted to meet up with me for some fun times. I was scared but turned on at the same time. I didn't know what to do. Has this show ever had an adult female on it, trying to prey on underaged boys? Or was it always adult men?

It's mainly stakeouts for men who make the trip to the decoy house.

I can't recall any of the reports showing off a female predator. If memory serves, there never was a femme predator caught.

 

[jmood88]

This is an odd subject for people to push the #notallmen/spectacle is bad argument

It's interesting seeing the causes that people on this site choose to take up.

 

[Squire]

This is an odd subject for people to push the #notallmen/spectacle is bad argument

Yeeeeeeeeeeep

 

[CornBurrito]

It's mainly stakeouts for men who make the trip to the decoy house.

I can't recall any of the reports showing off a female predator. If memory serves, there never was a femme predator caught.

That's a bit surprising that there wasn't even a single female predator over the course of the show's history.

 

[PAULINK]

I'm so going to fund this.

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

I dont get the anime joke.

Edit: I get that anime is rife with the chibi creepy shit but the birth certificate part doesnt track.

 

[DoktorEvil]

That's a bit surprising that there wasn't even a single female predator over the course of the show's history.

None that I recall.

 

[foxtrot3d]

You can go on and on about respect and dignity for pedophiles and how viewers of Hanson's show are vile and morally corrupt, but I will not care.

I am not talking about what society should do or what foundation it builds its laws on. I am talking about how I feel about this controversy. You say I can't ridicule a murderer. Well, why not?

Chris Hansen doesn't have Regular Joe assaulting or throwing rocks at pedos. He televises their hopes of rape and subsequent arrest. What is the difference between this and a televised murder trial?

Hence why I no longer wish to discuss this any further, clearly you are basing your feelings on the show on your personal emotions and pleasure at seeing criminals brought to light. Thankfully, society and our legal system is not based on baseline feelings of pure vengeance and shaming.

 

[CarpeDeezNutz]

I liked the one where they busted a dude and like the next day he was back at it again, the second time they got him at a McDonalds.

Also, the juggalo guy, "I got two words for you NBC, 'Role-playing chatroom dude.'"

 

[Red]

Hence why I no longer wish to discuss this any further, clearly you are basing your feelings on the show on your personal emotions and pleasure at seeing criminals brought to light. Thankfully, society and our legal system is not based on baseline feelings of pure vengeance and shaming.

I don't understand what your argument was in the first place. I agree, it's great that the justice system is not based on feelings of vengeance. Impartial justice must be the ideal. But To Catch a Predator is not a part of the justice system, and does not have the same obligations.

Do you feel the same way about The Jinx, or Serial?

 

[Symphonia]

They put the decoy in the rented house, the decoy recieved the guy and told him to wait while the decoy goes do something else, guy got naked in anticipation for the decoy, assumes knock on the door is decoy coming back, "take a seat".

Not too hard to understand.

But from the bits I've seen, it's almost as if the camera crew are just stood in the hallway filming the perverts. That's what I'm referring to when I say staged. I have no reason to believe that the people you see on screen aren't perverts.

Including Hansen.

 

[Mr. Enigma]

It's not staged; these people get arested. You can look the cases up.

I don't recall exactly why that guy took his clothes off; I think it was the fantasy in his chat.

The camera people are hidden in closets and stuff.

That guy was particularly fucked up. He said he wanted to fuck her in every room of the house so "no matter where you are, you'll think about me." He wanted to get naked as soon as he showed up and he...wanted her to give her cat a blow job. It's all in the chat logs.

 

[foxtrot3d]

Pedo Sagan would argue that we're all star stuff, anyway.



Most of the cases weren't thrown out because of claims of entrapment, but rather evidentiary issues and poor procedure since it involved a civilian organization doing the work of police.

EDIT: More detail on what constitutes entrapment:



I find it very hard to believe that, in the majority of these cases, the suspect had no intention of sexually chatting up or meeting a minor for sex before the decoy just planted the idea in his head or talked him into it.

To clarify entrapment for the non-legally minded, their are basically two aspects to entrapment law that must be met to effectively make the claim.

The first is inducement, which occurs when a government agent pressures ot encourages a suspect to commit a crime. It is not enough for the agent to merely provide the suspect with an opportunity to commit the crime. Rather, the government must actively encourage or promote the offense.

The second aspect of entrapment is predisposition, which looks at whether facts known about the suspect suggest that he was unusually likely to have agreed to commit the offense absent the inducement. Predisposition might be established by past criminal convictions; if a defendant has committed the same offense in the past, it will often show a predisposition to commit the same offense again.

Here's an example of a case dealing with a claim of entrapment dealing with the current subject matter and taken straight from my casebook:

Setup is just like the TV show, agent is chatting to a person online pretending to be underage and to get them to try and meet with them with the intent on performing sexual acts. Here is the following exchange, you decide [try to hold back your anger and disgust]:

Russel D: where'd you and your bf go on dates to?

sweetgirlinaz2006: movies the mall stuff like that

SG: he come over here sometimes

SG: when mom not home

RD: Why when mom not home?

RD: she not like him?

SG: not alot

RD: what would you do over there?

SG: hang out

RD: cool

RD: kinda boring jk lol

SG: lol

SG: we would do bf and gf stuff

RD: at 14 what do bfs and gfs do? lol

SG: kiss and stuff

RD: your mom would be really mad if I showed up at your place LoL.

SG: yea

SG: lol

SG: shes not here

SG: shes at work then goin out with bf

RD: so you inviting me over? jk haha

SG: lol

SG: u leeve

RD: no I'm still here lol

SG: k

RD: you still here? jk lol

SG: yep

RD: YaY thought may of scared you away lol

SG: no why

RD: I don't know

RD: saying if you were inviting me over LoL that was kinda weird

SG: oh

SG: u want ot come over

[Important to note here is that a juror could find that the idea of engaging in illegal conduct originated with the detective rather than the Defendant, and also that the detective urged and induced Defendant to commit the offense. What makes things difficult for a juror in such a situation is copious use of "lol" which could indicate any number of things.]

cont.

SG: what all we gonna do

RD: we can kiss and go from there, whatever you are comfortable with

SG: tell me so i know what ur thinking is all russell. just want to knwo what ur thinkin is all. what we gonna do

RD: hang out

SG: and do what

RD: watch tv or something

SG: nevermind russell ur not bein straight with me

SG: take it easy

RD: what do you mean?

SG: bye russell

RD: what don't go

RD: I want to meet you if we hit it off we can kiss

SG: k

RD: is that ok?

SG: what else I just wnat to know what im gettin in to is all

RD: I think we should just kiss for now

SG:
k

RD: are you ok with that?

SG: i think ur lying about what we gonna do i just dont wnat to get into something without known before is all

RD: I didn't want to say anything specific casue if I go and you decide we don't hit it off and don't want to kiss me then I don't want you to feel bad

SG: but what would u wanna do

RD: thats something we'd have to decide together at the moment

RD: at a minimum I want to meet you we can talk for a little bit and if you like me we can start to kiss

SG: k what else

RD: for now thats all I want to do

SG: tonite thats all

RD: yeah then if we get together e can meet up again

RD: is that okay with you?

SG: no i dont want to risk u coming over just for that

SG: thx for bein honest

SG: russell

RD: what more would you like to do?

SG: i appreciate it

RD: I really don't know what else you're looking for

RD: I don't want to scare you away

RD: How is that risking it just for that?

RD: I could do more if you are willing

SG: like what

RD: are you willing?

SG: to do what

RD: we could touch each other

SG: where

RD: inbetween legs

Remember, the question is whether the undercover agent induced the defendant into committing the crime. Now, in my opinion, I would say no. While the officer brought up "kiss and stuff" first it wasn't to suggest that she wanted the Defendant to do the same to her. Also, the only real "pressure" that was exerted on the defendant was the officer ending the chat. But, it is a close call in this case.

 

[Killing_Joke]

This show was entertaining for all the fucked up reasons. I'm not sure if i should be ashamed or ok with the fact i would be happy to see it come back.

The funny thing is i thought chris and the crew were assholes. Pedos are sick in the head so let's ambush them with cameras and 100 on duty cops. Nothing bad will happen. Ever. If they at least offered or encouraged counseling to help then at least i would have some respect. But on the flip side, fuck pedos.

Guess that's why i have such a weird fascination with the show.

 

[plagiarize]

How can the show be a more effective deterrent than the law? That same law which marks you as a sex offender for life. These people are not in their right minds when they commit such acts, they aren't logically performing some cost benefit analysis. The show is nothing more than cheap entertainment that I feel we can do without. Lock them up or get them help we don't need an entire dog and pony show before the whole world that only serves to appease baseline human urge to point fingers at and go "look at the freak."

Tell me what's the difference between this and the public executions and shaming conducted through the antiquity and well past the Middle Ages? You know where they hang a guy and you bring the whole family out to watch and throw stones at? Or the "whore" wife who dared to commit adultery and thus the whole town gets to throw vegetables at and slut shame? It's the same thing just dressed up for modern society.

Why does it have to be a more effective deterrent?

It's a supplemental deterrent.

 

[CarpeDeezNutz]

I always wondered why none of the guys took a swing a Chris but I guess the feelings of shame/guilt and oh shit I've been had must overpower them.

 

[Mr. Enigma]

I always wondered why none of the guys took a swing a Chris but I guess the feelings of shame/guilt and oh shit I've been had must overpower them.

Hansen said in the first two or three investigations, his anxiety was through the roof thinking someone was going to attack him. He said eventually though, he realized all these guys were pussies who weren't going to do anything.

 

[jmood88]

This show was entertaining for all the fucked up reasons. I'm not sure if i should be ashamed or ok with the fact i would be happy to see it come back.

The funny thing is i thought chris and the crew were assholes. Pedos are sick in the head so let's ambush them with cameras and 100 on duty cops. Nothing bad will happen. Ever. If they at least offered or encouraged counseling to help then at least i would have some respect. But on the flip side, fuck pedos.

Guess that's why i have such a weird fascination with the show.

I really don't get this "they just need help" posts. The show wasn't about getting people arrested just for talking about disgusting shit they wanted to do to kids, they went out to a house to have sex with a child. If it was just some guys talking online, then that'd be different but they cross the line from fantasy to predator when they go out to meet what they think are kids.

 

[dead souls]

I always wondered why none of the guys took a swing a Chris but I guess the feelings of shame/guilt and oh shit I've been had must overpower them.

They won't hit on someone who's that old.

 

[CarpeDeezNutz]

Hansen said in the first two or three investigations, his anxiety was through the roof thinking someone was going to attack him. He said eventually though, he realized all these guys were pussies who weren't going to do anything.

Ah thanks, do you happen to have the link to the interview?

They won't hit on someone who's that old.

Lmao

 

[Volimar]

It's not entrapment. Pretty sure the cops never ask if the pedos want to come over, or have sex, they are just waiting and responding to what ever the guys say.

The civilian group that actually did the chatting got a lot of flack because they'd chat the pedophile up online, have some back and forth, and the the person pretending to be the minor would say something along the lines of "My parents are out of town this weekend, want to come over?" or "the neighbors hired me to walk their dog while they're out of town and I have their whole place to myself, you should come visit."

This is why a lot of people call what they do entrapment. In the pedophile's mind this person obviously wants to have sex with them. They delude themselves into thinking that it's not molestation or abuse if it's consensual. Now the argument is this:

Would a pedophile have eventually met up with a real minor for sex if they were never arrested? Many of the people arrested were active online for years and never acted on their pedophilic urges until they were invited to by these people posing as minors.

My position? I do have a lot of sympathy for people afflicted with this. If the stigma weren't so strong, I'd like to think that more of them would reach out for help. Unfortunately, there isn't much in the way of treatment for pedophilia so I can understand why many stay silent.

My sympathy ends the moment they act on those urges. Child molesters deserve every ounce of punishment they get. Sure, let them get help, in prison.

 

[jmood88]

The civilian group that actually did the chatting got a lot of flack because they'd chat the pedophile up online, have some back and forth, and the the person pretending to be the minor would say something along the lines of "My parents are out of town this weekend, want to come over?" or "the neighbors hired me to walk their dog while they're out of town and I have their whole place to myself, you should come visit."

This is why a lot of people call what they do entrapment. In the pedophile's mind this person obviously wants to have sex with them. They delude themselves into thinking that it's not molestation or abuse if it's consensual. Now the argument is this:

Would a pedophile have eventually met up with a real minor for sex if they were never arrested? Many of the people arrested were active online for years and never acted on their pedophilic urges until they were invited to by these people posing as minors.

That's not entrapment, though.

 

[Mr. Enigma]

The civilian group that actually did the chatting got a lot of flack because they'd chat the pedophile up online, have some back and forth, and the the person pretending to be the minor would say something along the lines of "My parents are out of town this weekend, want to come over?" or "the neighbors hired me to walk their dog while they're out of town and I have their whole place to myself, you should come visit."

That's not entrapment. None of those statements imply wanting to do anything sexual in any way. That's not how they did their chats anyways. They always waited for the dudes to turn it sexual, which they often did immediately.

 

[DoktorEvil]

This show was entertaining for all the fucked up reasons. I'm not sure if i should be ashamed or ok with the fact i would be happy to see it come back.

The funny thing is i thought chris and the crew were assholes. Pedos are sick in the head so let's ambush them with cameras and 100 on duty cops. Nothing bad will happen. Ever. If they at least offered or encouraged counseling to help then at least i would have some respect. But on the flip side, fuck pedos.

Guess that's why i have such a weird fascination with the show.

Meh. I rewatched some of the old reports yesterday and I can't say I feel so strongly about any of the predators in the report deserve being referred to a mental clinic.

Save for a handful of those men, the majority of them were well aware of what they were doing and how they let their dicks get the better of them.

Some were fathers or fathers to be. Some were fairly big fish(like that ADA case).
Some were lonely and depressed men that thought it was easy pickin' to seduce a teen aged girl or boy.
Most of them were not what Id call classically handsome.
Quite a few men were immigrants, in countries where maybe that kind of thing would fly.

At most, I'd say there would be as many men as I can count on two hands that were truly in need of counseling.

 

[Killing_Joke]

I really don't get this "they just need help" posts. The show wasn't about getting people arrested just for talking about disgusting shit they wanted to do to kids, they went out to a house to have sex with a child. If it was just some guys talking online, then that'd be different but they cross the line from fantasy to predator when they go out to meet what they think are kids.

Not true. The last episode with the suicide, he did not go to the house. But they tracked him down and brought a SWAT team with them. I remember a bunch of times they arrested guys even though they didn't go in the house.

 

[Daniel Jackson]

Stretch goal: a couch

 

[jmood88]

Not true. The last episode with the suicide, he did not go to the house. But they tracked him down and brought a SWAT team with them. I remember a bunch of times they arrested guys even though they didn't go in the house.

The suicide that ended the show was the only example of them seeking out a person who talked to the decoys and the people who were arrested for not going to the house still drove to the house with the intent of having sex with what they thought was a child.

 

[Volimar]

That's not entrapment. None of those statements imply wanting to do anything sexual in any way. That's not how they did their chats anyways. They always waited for the dudes to turn it sexual, which they often did immediately.

I'm saying that people think it is entrapment, not that it is. I think it's important to note the obvious difference between sexually explicit chat with minors and child molestation. Both should be criminal, but one is obviously much more serious than the other. I think the critics of the show wouldn't mind as much if the people posing as minors used the data they collected to get law enforcement involved in the online criminal activities of the pedophiles, arresting them and putting them in treatment, on offender registries, and trying to get them help. Instead the invite the pedophile over to act on their urges, and they get arrested and shamed on television. Their lives are ruined and they don't get any help. How many people could they have caught before it got that serious?

 

[Mr. Enigma]

I'm saying that people think it is entrapment, not that it is. I think it's important to note the obvious difference between sexually explicit chat with minors and child molestation. Both should be criminal, but one is obviously much more serious than the other. I think the critics of the show wouldn't mind as much if the people posing as minors used the data they collected to get law enforcement involved in the online criminal activities of the pedophiles, arresting them and putting them in treatment, on offender registries, and trying to get them help. Instead the invite the pedophile over to act on their urges, and they get arrested and shamed on television. Their lives are ruined and they don't get any help. How many people could they have caught before it got that serious?

I'd rather their lives get ruined than the life of a child who they eventually hook up with that wasn't a decoy.

 

[Crud]

I'm so going to fund this.

Thank you. Because I'm not going to lie To Catch a Predator was great my whole family would get together to watch it. Great Tv.

 

[FeenixRising]

animegaf gonna need to doublecheck those 1,000 year old birth certs

I can't believe I missed this.

 

[Cth]

There was this old man in the first show with a screen name called "hambubger" and it still cracks me up. Also it gave me the classic line, "imma gonna lick u good". Do you people really want to lose out on classic moments like these?

My favorite is the "O DANG." the decoy says in response to being propositions for buttsex.

It's worked it's way into our lexicon.

 

[Volimar]

I'd rather their lives get ruined than the life of a child who they eventually hook up with that wasn't a decoy.

I'd rather they were arrested for the chats, put on a registry and put into a treatment program that at least tries to help them before anyone invites anyone to hook up.

 

[JoseTheTaco]

These types of responses are always hilarious.

But its true

 

[Rastafarian42]

He's going to be the biggest donator:

Should've been the first post.

 

[Cream]

That's because even though the word 'pedo' means a very specific thing (by definition and law), it gets thrown around way too easily. In my experience it's because people honestly believe it refers to anything <18, heck I had a friend(27) who said he felt like a pedo for liking a girl that just turned 20...

Oh my god, yes. This is honestly a pet peeve of mine, when someone is a pedophile for being attracted to a 17 year old, or even a 14-15 year old. Also, you're a pedo if you like cute anime girls, apparently. Yeah, because if you like playing violent games or watching violent movie, you're really a violent murderer.