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Case of Rabbi David A. Kaye
Sentenced on December 1, 2006 to 78 months (6 1/2 years) in Federal Prison
Former Vice President - Panim: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values, Rockville, MD
Former Rabbi - Congregation Har Shalom, Potomac, MD
Former Rabbi - Congregation Agudas Achim, San Antonio, TX
Rabbi David Kaye was featured on "Dateline NBC" for seeking a sexual encounter with an underage boy in a chat room. NBC News conducted a sting in August, (2005) working with a group called "Perverted Justice." Members of the group, posing as underage boys and girls, entered Internet chat rooms and waited for adults to engage them in conversations.
Kaye was one of many who allegedly spoke to the presumed children about sex, and suggested meeting them. Kaye allegedly sent one individual naked pictures of himself, said he was gay and arranged a meeting at a Northern Virginia home where the "boy" said he lived, which NBC had equipped with hidden cameras.
Rabbi David A. Kaye has been a Jewish educator for 30 years. He has been a pulpit rabbi for 17 years serving Congregation Har Shalom, Potomac, MD and Congregation Agudas Achim, San Antonio, TX.
Rabbi Kaye is currently a member of the Rabbinical Assembly, He has staffed numerous USY conventions and retreats. As a leader in the Washington Federation, he was instrumental in the creation of several innovative youth and Jewish educational initiatives.
Rabbi Kaye faced being sentenced up to 60 years in prision. On December 1, 2006, U.S. District Judge James C. Cacheris in Alexandria, VA settled on 78 months. Stating Kaye would then face 10 years of supervised release. The judge said that during that time, Kaye will be forbidden to accept any job involving children, and he ordered him to never be around children younger than 18 without an adult present. Upon release he will be mandated to be on the national sex offenders registry.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ed Power had called for a tough sentence and said Kaye's conduct was "a crime of violence in which he essentially tried to rape a 13-year-old boy."
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2005
Rabbi David A. Kaye, Vice President for Program (10/29/2005)
2006
Also see:
Rabbi David A. Kaye,
Vice President for Program
Panim - October 30, 2005
http://web.archive.org/web/20040723170316/www.panim.org/News/NewsList.cfm?c=30
Rabbi David A. Kaye has been a Jewish educator for 30 years. He has been a pulpit rabbi for 17 years serving Congregation Har Shalom, Potomac, MD and Congregation Agudas Achim, San Antonio, TX. He created award winning synagogue theme programs, many with the focus on tikkun olam. A member of the Rabbinical Assembly, David has staffed numerous USY conventions and retreats. As a leader in the Washington Federation, he was instrumental in the creation of several innovative youth and Jewish educational initiatives.
Partners in Caring - Fall 2000
http://www.healthcarechaplaincy.org/publications/publications/PIC-fall2000/rabbis.html
There are 14 individuals in this photograph. Three have been caught soliciting sex from individuals who they believed were minors. One has to wonder if anyone else in this photograph may also be a sexual predator.
In the back row you will find both Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum and Rabbi Jerrold/Gerrold Levy. Rabbi Kestenbaum is the first person on the left, and Rabbi Levy is the first person on the right. Both have been convicted in connection with soliciting sex through the Internet. Rabbi David Kaye is in the front row in the middle.
Kallah faculty and participants: (Back row, L to R) Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, Rabbi Sanford Akselrad, Rabbi Abraham Morduchowitz, Rabbi Michael Davis, Rabbi Moshe Morduchowitz, Rabbi Bennett Rackman, Rabbi Raphael Ostrovski, Rabbi Gerrold Levy; (Front Row, L to R) Rabbi Feivel Wagner, Rabbi Carl Perkins, Rabbi Bonita E. Taylor, Rabbi David Kaye, Rabbi Mychal Springer, Rabbi David Nelson.
http://www.panim.org/statement.htm
Panim - November 2, 2005.
On October 31, 2005, Rabbi David Kaye, former PANIM Vice President
for Program , informed me of certain personal conduct that took place outside
of our organization, that may soon be aired as part of a larger news story
on national television. He immediately tendered his resignation, which I
accepted.We currently are undertaking an internal inquiry to be certain that
there has been no similar misconduct at PANIM, in any way. At this point,
there have been no allegations of, nor any evidence of, any improprieties
involving PANIM programs or participants and Rabbi Kaye or any other staff
member. Furthermore, no complaints have ever been lodged against Rabbi Kaye
or any other staff member by students, visiting faculty, parents or fellow
staff members.The trust which parents and schools place in us to care for
their teenagers imposes a heavy responsibility on PANIM. PANIM maintains
a zero tolerance policy for any inappropriate activity or behavior involving
our faculty, staff or participants. That policy and our rigid enforcement
of it, have served to protect our students from unfortunate incidents that
have taken place in other institutions serving young people.Our primary
responsibility is the well being of our participants and the integrity of
our program. For 18 years PANIM has had a stellar reputation for providing
transformative educations programs for Jewish youth focused on Jewish values
and social responsibility. Our faculty and staff remain committed to training
the next generation of Jewish leadership and to ensuring the well being of
our participants.
Washington Jewish Week - November 2, 2005
http://www.washingtonjewishweek.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=4303&TM=1664.079
Rabbi David Kaye resigned suddenly on Monday evening as vice president for program at Panim: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values. Panim executive director Rabbi Sid Schwarz said the resignation came for "personal reasons."
The resignation came days before the scheduled Friday broadcast of a Dateline NBC hidden camera investigation of adults pursuing children over the Internet. Dateline correspondent Chris Hansen confirmed Tuesday to WJW that Kaye will be a subject of the hourlong report, in which members of a group which tracks Internet predators posed as teenage boys and lured adults to a house in Fairfax County, where Hansen confronted them.
Kaye declined to comment on the Dateline report. Schwarz also declined to comment on the broadcast, but said that there had "never been any accusations ... of any inappropriate behavior" in Kaye's three-year tenure with Panim.
Kaye is a former rabbi at Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac.
Rabbi of Jewish group resigns after NBC links him to Web sex
sting
By Matthew E. Berger
JTA - November 2, 2005
http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=15998&intcategoryid=4
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 (JTA) — An official with an educational program for Jewish high school students has resigned after allegedly searching the Internet for liaisons with underage boys and sending naked pictures of himself.
Rabbi David Kaye resigned from Panim on Monday, informing leaders that he was to be featured on "Dateline NBC" on Friday for seeking a sexual encounter with an underage boy in a chat room.
"He told me he was going to be on a program on national television that would identify him engaging in inappropriate behavior," said Rabbi Sid Schwarz, founder and president of the Washington-based Panim: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values.
Panim has never received a complaint against Kaye and he is not accused of doing anything in relation to his work there. But the incident is likely to revive concerns about the possibility of sexual misconduct between rabbis and other Jewish officials who come into contact with minors.
NBC News conducted a sting in August, working with a group called "Perverted Justice." Members of the group, posing as underage boys and girls, entered Internet chat rooms and waited for adults to engage them in conversations, Chris Hansen, the NBC reporter on the story, told JTA.
Kaye and others allegedly spoke to the presumed children about sex, and suggested meeting them. Kaye allegedly sent one individual naked pictures of himself, said he was gay and arranged a meeting at a Northern Virginia home where the "boy" said he lived, which NBC had equipped with hidden cameras.
When he arrived, he was confronted by Hansen.
"He admitted to being a rabbi," Hansen said. "He then got very agitated."
When reached by JTA on Wednesday, Kaye refused to comment on his resignation or any of the accusations against him. Hansen said Kaye had agreed at one point to speak with NBC News, but only if the network did not air his name or face. The network refused.
Perverted Justice sent the chat transcripts and information about Kaye and others to the Fairfax County, Va. Police, Hansen said. A police spokesman said the department does not confirm the names of anyone under investigation until they are charged with a crime.
Kaye joined Panim after serving as a rabbi and confirmation instructor at Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac, Md., for 15 years, until 2001.
"We are waiting to see what the show is and we´ll respond after that," said Rabbi David Rose, senior rabbi at Har Shalom.
He was ordained by the Reconstructionist movement, but is now a member of the Rabbinical Assembly, the rabbinical arm of the Conservative movement. Rabbi Joel Meyers, the R.A.'s executive vice president, was out of the country and unavailable for comment.
Panim is largely known for its high school engagement program, Panim el Panim, which brings thousands of Jewish students from around the country to Washington each year for religious and political education. As vice president for programming, Kaye mostly oversaw the faculty, Schwarz said.
"We do a fairly rigorous set of reference checks for people we hire," Schwarz said. "But there are always opportunities for abuse of authority."
In the past few days, Schwarz said he and others have been reflecting on incidents that were seen as inconsequential at the time, wondering if they should have seen a pattern.
"I'd be lying if I said I haven't been thinking about it and wondering about it," he said. "But they were so insignificant not to suggest a pattern of behavior."
Yosef Abramowitz, the CEO of Jewish Family & Life, served as the assistant director of Panim in the 1990s. He said he could not imagine much opportunity for one-on-one time between staff and students.
"There's never been a hint of anything in the past, and the program is so intense that there is no one-on-one, un-chaperoned down time," Abramowitz said.
Schwarz said he did not expect an investigation into Kaye's work at Panim, but Panim has taken Kaye's computer hard drive for inspection.
The organization is reaching out to congregations and others that work with the student program.
"I would assure parents that we've never had an incident in our program, and there is no accusation of incidents in our program," he said. "There is no way that any reasonable person can make assurances that no incident will ever happen, but we have safety systems in place."
Sexual abuse by clergy has been a national issue in recent years, stemming largely from accusations in the Catholic Church.
But there have been cases that have roiled the Jewish community.
Rabbi Baruch Lanner, an Orthodox Union official, is serving seven years in prison for sexually abusing a student when he was principal of Hillel Yeshiva High School in New Jersey. Lanner was accused of molesting more than 20 teenage girls over a period of 30 years, and physically and verbally abusing boys. But he was convicted on just one account.
Schwarz said he hoped the organization's reputation would help it weather the storm.
"I think there is so much good will with people that work with us that will serve us well," he said.
Washington Jewish Week - November 2, 2005
http://www.washingtonjewishweek.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=4303&TM=102.596
Rabbi David Kaye resigned suddenly on Monday evening as vice president for program at Panim: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values. Panim executive director Rabbi Sid Schwarz said the resignation came for "personal reasons."
The resignation came days before the scheduled Friday broadcast of a Dateline NBC hidden camera investigation of adults pursuing children over the Internet. Dateline correspondent Chris Hansen confirmed Tuesday to WJW that Kaye will be a subject of the hourlong report, in which members of a group which tracks Internet predators posed as teenage boys and lured adults to a house in Fairfax County, where Hansen confronted them.
Kaye declined to comment on the Dateline report. Schwarz also declined to comment on the broadcast, but said that there had "never been any accusations ... of any inappropriate behavior" in Kaye's three-year tenure with Panim.
Kaye is a former rabbi at Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac.
Hidden camera investigation catches men trying to
meet kids for sex
MSNBC - October 31, 2005
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9878187/#051103a
Last fall, "Dateline's" Chris Hansen investigated an epidemic spreading throughout America — men trolling Internet chat rooms in pursuit of children. Now one year later, he's back with yet another shocking report about the threat of online sexual predators.
Hansen and NBC News set up their hidden camera investigation in an upscale home in a Washington D.C. suburb. Members of a group called Perverted Justice, an Internet watchdog group, pretended to be 12 to 14-year-old children chatting online. Within hours, adults solicited the undercover operatives for sex. Some sent graphic sexual images to what they believed were minors. Soon, many of those same men actually show up at the house for a rendezvous with the child.
Instead, they are confronted by Hansen. Most of the men claim their intentions were innocent. Some of the most alarming cases involve seemingly prominent members of the community: a Rabbi, a special education teacher and a doctor. The hidden camera investigation exposes 19 men in three days, giving viewers a frightening glimpse at how widespread the problem is. With consumer groups warning parents that adults looking for sex frequently approach U.S. children who are online, the report will also include advice for parents about how to protect their children from this pervasive danger.
Adults prowling
the Web to meet children found Dateline cameras instead
Chris Hansen, Dateline correspondent
MSNBC - November 3, 2005
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9878187/#051103a
Late last August three hidden camera engineers, 2 regular cameramen, a soundman, 2 volunteers from a vigilante group that exposes computer predators, a producer, an associate producer, a security provider and I moved into a big home in an affluent suburb of Washington, DC. The mission: to explore the sometimes dark world of Internet chat rooms and to expose predators who seek to seduce children.
We all knew going in that the scope of the problem is immense. At any given time 50,000 predators are on the Internet prowling for children and the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children tells us that one in five children online have been solicited for sex.
Still, I wasn't prepared for what I was about to see. The next five days would leave my crew and me physically and mentally exhausted.
Even before I arrived on the scene, Mitch and Eric Waggonberg and their team had installed eleven hidden cameras and essentially built a control room on the second floor of the house. The cameras could be panned and zoomed from the second floor. One room over, the volunteers from the vigilante group called Perverted Justice were in regional chat rooms of Yahoo and AOL, posing as 12, 13 or 14 year old kids. They posted profiles with pictures of boys and girls who were unmistakably underage. And huddled in with them, a computer researcher was standing by to dig into the backgrounds of men who came to our house to meet a child for sex.
I arrived at our house on a Wednesday morning about 9 a.m. By noon we were expecting our first visitor. He was 54 and called himself "Redbd" on line. He thought he was talking to a 13-year-old boy named Conrad. Redbd acknowledged Conrad's age saying he was "sooo soo young." He asked "Conrad" about his sexuality and his sexual experience. Then he sent "Conrad" pictures of himself so explicit we can't show you. And then he was walking up the driveway to our home. He was confident, comfortable. He even parked right in the driveway. I was standing in the next room, watching on a monitor as he walked into the kitchen. The decoy said: "Hey, spilled Diet Coke on my shirt, I have to go change." The man offered to help.
As a correspondent in these kinds of situations, you're always a bit anxious. Redbd didn't look violent, but you never know how someone in his position is going to react, especially because Redbd was a prominent man who had a lot to lose by being exposed. Redbd was a rabbi at an organization that works with young people. At first he was calm, even though he clearly knew he was in a lot of trouble. Then he became agitated and wanted to know who I was. I suddenly felt a bit on the defensive. When I told him who I was, the camera crew came out of the next room and he started after me. Our security provider intervened and ultimately the rabbi left. Later, in a series of phone calls to us, the rabbi claimed he had done nothing wrong.
All of this happened on the first day of our investigation. He was the first of 19 men who would walk in our house. I knew then, it was going to be a long week.
One after another, a parade of predators showed up at our house. Each confrontation was unique. Sometimes on these undercover investigations you feel almost exhilarated when you catch someone in the act. This time though, it was just plain pathetic and frightening to see first hand how many men would do something like this.
Besides the rabbi, there was a doctor, a special education teacher, an army man, a defense contractor, a medical student... the list goes on. Not one of these men, if you saw him on the street would stand out in a crowd. Some were defiant, claiming they'd done nothing wrong. Many said this was the first time they'd ever done anything like this and they weren't really going to go through with it. Some broke down and admitted an addiction to the Internet.
Perhaps the most memorable moment though was when a guy actually walked into our home naked. That's right: Naked. I knew, based upon his chat with the decoy that this might be a possibility. I never really thought the man would do it. But, on the second evening of our investigation, there he was walking into our kitchen wearing nothing, carrying a 12-pack of beer looking to hook up with a 14-year-old boy. I was standing in the next room looking at the monitor, shaking my head in disbelief. He's sitting on a stool naked and now I have to go confront him and do an interview with him. That was a TV first for me.
Fortunately, there was a towel nearby that I could give him to cover up.
What does your daddy do for a living? My kids and virtually anyone else I told about my interview with naked-guy thought this was hysterical... that is until I told them what this same guy did the next day. It highlights the danger and the prevalence of men online trying to solicit children. Within 12 hours of the encounter at the kitchen counter, the very same man was in a chat room talking to a decoy posing as a 13-year old boy. There's sex talk and he sets up a meeting at a fast food restaurant.
But, instead of meeting a 13-year-old, he meets me with a camera crew. Again, I confront the man.
He tells me he needs to get help and is seeing a psychiatrist.
Let's hope that he does.
UJC - November 3, 2005
www.ujfpittsburgh.org/content_display.html?ArticleID=165523
A official with an educational program for Jewish high school students resigned after allegedly being caught searching the Internet for liaisons with underage boys. Rabbi David Kaye resigned Monday from the Washington-based Panim: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values, informing leaders that his story would appear Friday on "Dateline NBC."
Pervert Justice Caught on Tape
By DON KAPLAN
New York Post
November 3, 2005
http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/56780.htm
November 3, 2005 -- IN a sting to bust Internet predators, NBC's "Dateline" caught 19 alleged pedophiles, including a rabbi, trying to meet and have sex with someone they thought was a child.
Dateline correspondent Chris Hansen and NBC News set up the hidden-camera investigation in an upscale home in a Washington, D.C., suburb and worked with members of a group called Perverted Justice, an Internet watchdog group.
"At the end of each day, our whole team of about a dozen people were emotionally and physically wiped out," Hansen told The Post.
For the investigation, a 22-year-old female member of Perverted Justice posed as a decoy and pretended to be 12- to 14-year-old children online in chatrooms on AOL and Yahoo. Within hours, adults solicited the undercover operative for sex. Some sent graphic sexual images to what they believed were minors.
Later, many of those same men actually showed up at the house for a sexual rendezvous with the children.
One of the perverts who was snared and appears on tomorrow's edition of the newsmagazine (8 p.m. on WNBC/Ch. 4) was caught on camera literally with his pants down.
"The guy walked into the garage holding a 12-pack of beer and took off his clothes," Hansen says. At that point, Hansen and nearly a dozen NBC News crew members confronted the man.
"The kicker is, the next day he set up a date online to meet with a child at a fast-food restaurant," says Hansen. The child was also a decoy, and the man was confronted by Hansen for a second time in as many days.
The sting also caught a rabbi, who became violent when Hansen confronted him with a handful of obscene pictures the holy-man had allegedly e-mailed to the decoy.
All of the tapes and transcripts from the chatrooms were turned over to local authorities.
e-mail: don.kaplan@nypost.com
Rabbi, teacher lose jobs over TV sex
sting
Assocated Press - November 4, 2005
http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=4076137&nav=23ii
ROCKVILLE, Md. A Potomac rabbi who is part of a national youth group and a Prince George's County, Maryland teacher have lost their jobs after allegedly trying to solicit sex from minors online.
They didn't realize they were part of an undercover probe by the television show "Dateline N-B-C."
Rabbi David Kaye resigned from his position this week as vice president of PANIM: the Institute for Jewish Leaders and Values.
Steven Benoff was a special education teacher at Woodridge Elementary School in Prince George's County. He was fired August 23rd, after Fairfax County, Virginia. police notified the school system about ... quote ... "information relating to children."
The pair had gone to a house in northern Virginia to meet children.
The "Dateline N-B-C" show is scheduled to run tonight.
Local Rabbi Caught in
'Dateline' Internet Sting
Associated Press - Friday, Nov. 4, 2005
http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?sid=613326&nid=25
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) - A Potomac rabbi, who is part of a national youth group, and a Prince George's County teacher lost their jobs after allegedly trying to solicit sex from minors online, part of an undercover probe by the television show "Dateline NBC."
Rabbi David Kaye resigned from his position this week as vice president of PANIM: the Institute for Jewish Leaders and Values, according to a statement put out by the Rockville-based group.
Steven Benoff, a special education teacher at Woodridge Elementary School in Prince George's County, was fired Aug. 23, according to school system spokesman John White. Benoff, of Washington, was fired after Fairfax County, Va., police notified the system about "information relating to children."
The "Dateline NBC" show, scheduled to run Friday night, involved a camera crew conducting an online sting with the Internet watchdog group, Perverted Justice. Members of the watchdog group pretended to be 12- to 14-year old children, chatting with adults who would solicit them for sex.
In mid-August, 19 men went to a house in northern Virginia on the belief they were meeting the children. Once there, they were confronted by "Dateline" reporter Chris Hansen.
Neither Kaye or Benoff has been criminally charged.
Rabbi Caught In 'Dateline' Online Predator Sting
19 Area Men Appear In 'Dateline' Sex Predator Story
NBC News - November 4, 2005
http://www.nbc4.com/news/5254495/detail.html
POTOMAC, Md. -- A rabbi from Potomac and a Prince George's County special education teacher have lost their jobs after getting caught up in a "Dateline NBC" investigation about Internet predators.
Video from a "Dateline" hidden camera allegedly shows Rabbi David Kaye visiting a home where he was expecting to meet the 13-year-old boy he'd been discussing sex with online. On Monday, Kaye resigned as a vice president with PANIM, the Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values, an education program for Jewish students from across the country.
A statement from Rabbi Sid Schwarz, the president of PANIM, said "We currently are undertaking an internal inquiry to be certain that there has been no similar misconduct at PANIM. There have been no allegations of, nor any evidence of, any improprieties involving PANIM programs or participants and Rabbi Kaye."
Prior to working at PANIM, Kaye worked at Congregation Har Shalom for about 15 years until he left in 2001. While there, Kaye performed bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs and was a confirmation instructor.
Congregants who know Kaye said this is totally out of character for him.
"We have discovered absolutely no allegations, suspicions or anything of that sort involving Rabbi Kaye and minors," said Rabbi David Rose, of Congregation Har Shalom, in a statement.
According to "Dateline," 19 men believing they had been chatting on the Internet with an underage boy showed up at the house during a three-day period, allegedly to have a sexual encounter. No one has been charged, but all 19 men are under investigation.
Also among those men is a teacher identified as Steven Bennof, of the District, according to "Dateline." He taught at Woodridge Elementary School but has been fired.
Maryland Rabbi, Teacher
Lose Jobs Over TV Sex Sting
WBAL - November 5, 2005
http://www.thewbalchannel.com/news/5257571/detail.html
ROCKVILLE, Md. -- A Potomac rabbi who is part of a national youth group, a Prince George's County teacher and an emergency room doctor on the Eastern Shore lost their jobs after allegedly trying to solicit sex from minors online, part of an undercover probe by the television show "Dateline NBC."
Rabbi David Kaye resigned from his position this week as vice president of PANIM, the Institute for Jewish Leaders and Values, according to a statement put out by the Rockville-based group.
Steven Benoff, a special education teacher at Woodridge Elementary School in Prince George's, was fired Aug. 23, according to school system spokesman John White.
Benoff, of Washington, was fired after Fairfax County, Va., police notified the system about "information relating to children."
The unnamed doctor, who had worked at Memorial Hospital in Easton and Dorchester General Hospital since 1999, was barred this week from practicing at any Shore Health System of Maryland facility, the company said in a statement.
Friday's "Dateline NBC" involved a camera crew conducting an online sting with the Internet watchdog group, Perverted Justice.
Members of the watchdog group pretended to be 12- to 14-year old children, chatting with adults who would solicit them for sex.
In mid-August, 19 men went to a house in northern Virginia on the belief they were meeting the children. Once there, they were confronted by "Dateline" reporter Chris Hansen.
None of the three men has been criminally charged.
Catching potential Internet sex
predators
HIDDEN CAMERA INVESTIGATION
By Chris Hansen, Dateline Correspondent
NBC News - Nov. 4, 2005
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9927253/
A long line of visitors expected to find a young teen they'd
been chatting with online, home alone. Instead, they found Dateline
cameras
In any home where there are kids with computers, there are parents with concerns. Teenagers can spend hours chatting online, but who are they chatting with? On the other end of that instant message could be a complete stranger — or a sexual predator. It's a dangerous side of the Internet, one that's growing and many children are at risk. So we went undercover, filling a house with hidden cameras.
Soon, a long line of visitors came knocking, expecting to find a young teenager they'd been chatting with on the Internet, home alone. Instead, they found Dateline.
We want to warn you some of what you'll read is explicit. But parents need to know what their kids can confront when they sit down at the computer.
The problem seems to be getting worse — and the profile of the suspected predators more frightening. Just this past summer, an editor for "Weekly Reader," a newspaper for school children was arrested for using the Internet to solicit sex with a 14-year-old boy. He pleaded not guilty.
And this past spring, a New York City cop, a youth officer, was also caught attempting to meet a child online for sex. He pleaded guilty last month "to attempted use of a child in a sexual performance" and agreed to serve six months in prison.
Law enforcement officials estimate that 50,000 predators are online at any given moment. And the number of reports of children being solicited for sex is growing says Michele Collins of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
"One in five kids has been sexually solicited," she says. "In many cases the incidents were actually aggressive where the person on the other end of the computer is actually calling the child, sending things to their homes, or actually trying to meet them in person."
Her organization launched an ad campaign aimed at educating teens about this crime. "The message that really got home to the teenage girl was that if you're in an online relationship, there's a good chance you might be getting played," she adds.
Collins says young teens are often an easy target. "Teenagers have vulnerabilities, it just ups the ante when you bring it on to the World Wide Web and that many more people have access to knowing what's going on in a child's mind," she says.
Katie Tarbox is a perfect example... she recounts her story in the book "A Girl's Life Online." Tarbox began an Internet relationship with a 23-year-old, an older man who convinced her he shared many of her interests.
"In my mind, I was thinking, 'Oh my gosh, like this is my soul mate out there,'" she thought. "In actuality he was just learning my interests, probably researching them at the same time, to come back to say that he enjoyed those things too."
After months of chatting online, Katie finally agreed to a meeting at a hotel where she was competing in a swim meet. The man turned out to be 41 years old and although they had never talked about sex, there was little doubt that's what he had in mind.
"He leaned over, he kissed me. He groped me. He touched other parts of my body. I mean I was essentially molested," says Tarbox.
Since then, Katie, now 23, has become an advocate for Internet victims. She warns children to steer clear of Internet predators and says she has heard thousands of tragic stories from victims who did not.
"You could never put us in a room, I'm not even sure you could put us in a whole stadium," she says of the victims out there. "I think it's very very widespread."
And even tough laws don't seem to deter many of these predators.
Lt. Jake Jacoby of the Fairfax County Police Department says it's a crime in Virginia for an adult to use the Internet to entice a child into having sex. So merely by using the Internet to set up a sexual liaison with somebody who's underage, that's a felony.
Because so many children are at risk, and to demonstrate the disturbing reality of what goes on in some chat rooms, we enlisted the help of volunteers from a vigilante organization called Perverted-Justice. Volunteers of this controversial group are experts at pretending to be children online in order to catch and expose potential predators. And in most states soliciting a minor for sex is still a crime even if it turns out the minor is an adult.
While some in law enforcement strongly oppose any civilian group conducting sting operations, Perverted-Justice volunteers say they are often able to provide authorities — from local police to the FBI — evidence to build cases and get convictions.
Del, Perverted-Justice volunteer: At his point in taping we have 30 convictions.
Hansen: 30 convictions.
Del: I believe now 22 since the first of this year. So, we're averaging well over two a month.
So how do Perverted-Justice operatives find potential sexual predators? First they go into chat rooms, usually through AOL or Yahoo and set up a profile of a 12, 13 or 14-year-old... a profile that often includes a photo of a child obviously underage.
Then the decoys wait to be contacted by an adult. In order to avoid the appearance of entrapment, they never make the first contact. But once an online chat begins the undercover operatives make it know they are open to the possibility of sex. A few decoys even seem eager.
Hansen: How quickly do these conversations turn sexual?
Jacoby: Sometimes very quickly. As soon as the conversation is "Hi my name is, I'm 14 years or 13 years old and the gentlemen will then say "Look at this" and send you a picture or say something else. And that would be a crime right there.
While just setting up a liaison online for sex with a minor is illegal, a face-to-face meeting obviously poses a much greater danger. We wanted to know if most predators were all talk or would they really attempt to meet a child in person.
"Dateline" set up in an upscale home in a suburb of Washington, D.C.., and were ready and waiting for the knock on the door.
The men come knocking at our door
A lovely home in Virginia just outside of Washington D.C. has become the secret meeting place for potential Internet sex predators. It's rigged with nine hidden cameras, three with views outside, one pointed at the garage and five inside the house.
Several volunteers from Perverted-Justice, the group dedicated to catching Internet predators, are in chat rooms posing as 12, 13 and 14-year-olds ready to make a date for sex with men they meet online.
A 39-year old Frag (his screenname), who has been a Perverted-Justice volunteer for more than two years, is posing as a 13-year-old girl in a Yahoo chat room set up for Virginia residents. It's a chat room not intended for romantic or sexual conversations.
As "Dateline" cameras roll, the undercover operatives enter chat rooms. They are quickly inundated with adults wanting to talk.
There's a 46-year-old who calls himself "the-sphinx59." He thinks he's talking to a 12-year-old girl named Sarah. It takes him only four minutes of chatting online to ask her, "Are you a virgin?"
She says she is and then he asks if she's ever performed oral sex. In this case as in many other men's chats, things get much more graphic and disgusting.
Del, Perverted-Justice volunteer: As those boundaries are crossed in a lot of ways, the chat tends to get a lot more explicit very quickly.
One man, screenname "va_male692005," who's 28 years old, thinks he's talking to Erin, a 14-year-old. He asks her bra size, if she shaves anything other than her legs, and says "There's just something about a teen body."
In most cases, the men ask for pictures of the young teens and then send pictures of themselves. Sometimes after the chat turns sexual, the man turns on his Web cam and exposes himself. Several men go as far as sending pornographic pictures hoping to teach the inexperienced child about different sex acts.
Here in Virginia, as in many other states, it's generally a crime to send children obscene material, even if it turns out the recipient is an adult posing as a child.
After chatting about having sex online, the decoy suggests a phone call.
23-year-old Del puts on her best "young girl" voice. She needs to verify that the man on the phone is the same man in the chat room.
Del: The worst thing about doing verification calls is that you have to smile while you're doing them so it sounds like it in your voice even though you don't mean it.
She can also play the part of a young boy.
Once a predator has made it clear he wants sex with a minor, and makes a date for the liaison, the crime has already been committed. He doesn't even have to show up.
But will he?
One man who came to the house, saw me and not a teen, realizes he's made a big mistake, and runs for the door. Another guy also doesn't stay long. He makes a beeline out to the garage, barely touches the stairs and with his arms flailing runs down the driveway and down the street. Clearly this man knows he's done something wrong. So does yet another man. He also makes a run for it— but he didn't come in a car, so he keeps running and running presumably back to a bus station trying desperately to hide his face.
It may look funny, but what these men had in mind, based on their Internet chat, was anything but. They've come to this house after a sexual conversation online.
Del (on hidden camera footage): Come on in. Sit at the counter. I've got some water and chips there for you if you want.
"the_sphinx59": Okay.
Remember "the_sphinx59"? He thinks the girl in the house is a 12-year-old virgin home alone and willing to perform oral sex, but like many other men you'll meet, he's in for a big surprise when I walk out. Some think I'm the child's father, others apparently believe I am with law enforcement. One thing's certain— none of them know our hidden cameras are recording their every move and they'll be appearing on "Dateline."
"The_Sphix59" is really Aladdin. He lied online about his age saying he was 35— he's really 46, and instead of admitting he came here to meet a 12-year-old girl, he says he was there to look at real estate.
Aladdin, screenname "the_sphinx59" (hidden camera footage transcript): I know that a house is for sale.
Chris Hansen, Dateline correspondent: Oh, that this house is for sale?
Aladdin: Yes, yes sir.
Aladdin: I hear that about a friend of mine.
Aladdin goes on to say that his friend found our house for sale on the Internet and he just came to check it out for him. Later, he decides to come clean.
Hansen: Why did you really come here?
Aladdin: To see what's her name.
Hansen: Sarah.
Aladdin: Yes.
Hansen: Okay. And, you were talking with Sarah online.
Aladdin: Yes.
Hansen: So, all that other stuff about the house and all that, that was all a big fat lie.
Aladdin: Yes.
Hansen: Okay. Do you know how old Sarah is?
Aladdin: No.
He tries to convince me that the girl, Sarah, is 18 years old even though his own words from his Web chat tell a different story.
Hansen: You say you're a 35, male, and you say where you're from. She says she's 12. You say, "Oh you're real young. You like older men?" You ask her about her former boyfriends. Did she ever give them oral sex? She says yes. She tells you here that she's 12 years old. So, that 18 thing was a lie as well.
Aladdin : I guess.
Then Aladdin apparently begins to feel faint and lies down on the kitchen floor.
Our background research reveals that Aladdin is a waiter at a Holiday Inn. He says he's an immigrant from Egypt who became a U.S. citizen two years ago.
Hansen: Why is it appropriate/ to come to a home where—
Aladdin: She's—
Hansen: a 12-year-old girl—
Aladdin: W can meet to—we can—you can come over to my place. And, you can—can spend time together.
Hansen: But, does that make it right for you to do it?
Aladdin: No.I feel guilty. Or, I feel bad about this.
You'll here more apologies from Aladdin a little bit later. First, there are more men headed to our house.
Meet "vamale692005," who online said "There's just something about a teen body." He's 28 years old and thinks he's talking to a 14-year-old. He's actually chatting with this 23-year-old from Perverted-Justice.
"He was by far the worst guy I've ever talked to," says the Perverted-Justice volunteer.
What separated him from the run of the mill computer predator? Bestiality. He chatted online for more than a week with our decoy— and slowly introduced more and more depraved sexual requests. He says he wants to use a dog.
A Perverted-Justice volunteer says that men like these test the waters, and when he they don't get negative reactions to their sexual suggestions, they feel comfortable to go further.
Was this all talk or would this man actually walk into our kitchen?
We saw him come through our door.
Hansen (hidden camera footage): How you doing? Why don't you have a seat right on that stool please. What's happening?
Joe, screenname "Vamale692005": Nothing much
Hansen: What are you here for?
Joe: Just coming to talk to...
Hansen: Coming to talk to who?
Joe: That's it.
Hansen: Why are you so nervous?
Joe: I just get nervous. I was coming to talk to Erin.
Hansen: How old is Erin?
Joe: She didn't tell me.
Hansen: Try again.
Joe: I saw 14.
Hansen: So you thought it was okay to come see a 14-year-old girl?
Joe: No, I didn't.
Hansen: And you say, "Would you ever try anal?" "Ouch. That's like it could hurt," she says. "Not if done right. You have to be very gentle with that." Quite a Romeo.
Joe: I'm a lonely guy, what can I say?
He's more than just a lonely guy. We did a background check and it turns out his real name is Joe Wundaler, an army sergeant stationed at Fort Belvoir at the intelligence and security command.
Joe: I've never done anything. I'm trying to get help with it.
Hansen: What are you doing to get help?
Joe: Seeing a psychiatrist right now.
Hansen: Well, it doesn't look like it's working too well, based upon all this.
Joe : I just started talking to him.
Hansen: This gets pretty freaky here. You talk about sex acts with a dog.
Joe: It's one of the reasons why I'm trying to get help. Because I get into fetishes that I know aren't right.
Hansen: I guess you're gonna tell me next that this is the very first time you've done something like this.
Joe: Actually, it is. I'm serious.
True or not, remember this guy tried to entice a young teen into depraved sex acts and it only takes one visit to harm a child forever.
We set aside three days to see how many men would actually show up at our undercover house. To keep track of our appointments, we set up a bulletin board. It didn't take long to fill up our calendar.
Some came bearing gifts, like beer, condoms, and a pornographic tape. One man brought shoes and dinner— just what the decoy ordered. You may not think that's significant, but Lt. Jake Jacoby who runs a child services unit in Virginia says during undercover stings, it can help get convictions.
Lt. Jacoby: At times when they show up, we like to have them either bring us something or do something so we can show that they're doing specifically what we asked them to do.
Hansen: Shows intent.
Jacoby: It helps, yes.
The men who show up at this house looking for a liason with a child come from very different backgrounds. And as our investigation unfolds, you might be surprised at just how diverse our group gets. Some hold very prominent positions— more prominent than you'd ever imagine.
A diverse group of men - A teacher, a doctor, a rabbi, and a guy who shows up naked
During our investigation, there is a parade of men walking up the driveway, through the garage, and into the house. We see 19 men in 3 days.
In almost every case, the man engaged in sexually explicit Internet conversations with a person posing as a young teen. And as you'll hear later, most of them said they'd never done it before, and would never actually have sex with a minor.
And perhaps more shocking than the number of men is who they are. Our background checks uncover men leading double lives, men you would never suspect involved in this potentially illegal activity.
A man letting himself into our house makes his living working with children— he's a special education teacher. Del was posing as a boy the man's expecting to meet.
Del (hidden camera footage transcript): Just sit at the kitchen counter for a minute.
Steve: Where are you? Oh, okay.
Del: I'm just—I need to get my new shorts on.
The teacher, Steven Bennof, believes he has been chatting online about sex with a boy named Brandon who says he's thirteen. And how old do you think the teacher is? He's 54 years old and married. When I confront him, at first he says he thought Brandon was an adult.
Steve (hidden camera footage transcript): He said he was 23. What's the problem?
Hansen: I have the transcripts. That's what the problem is. Brandon said he was 13.
Steve: 13?
Hansen: 13.
And the teacher knows this because Brandon told him online he was 13.
Hansen: You talk about oral sex, anal sex and all the different things that you'd like to do with him. What are you doing here?
Steve: Thought I'd come see him.
Hansen: Come see him for what?
Steve: I wanted to meet him.
While online, our 13-year-old decoy asked the teacher to bring condoms. Did he?
Steve: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Hansen: You did? You have them in your pocket. What does that say about your intent?
Steve: Well, I always have them with me but...
Hansen: What is a 54-year-old man doing, coming to this home to see a 13-year old boy?
Steve: Well, obviously I made a big mistake.
And he wasn't the only one not by a long shot. Surprisingly, there were many men with impressive resumes, men you would consider trustworthy.
A man with the screenname "Gbabbnsp" is an emergency room doctor. Dr. Jeffrey Beck, 50 years old, went to the house to meet a boy he thinks is 14 years old.
Del (hidden camera footage transcript): Come on in, I just spilled diet coke all over my shorts. Got to go change them .I'll be right back down man
And then the emergency room doctor tries to follow him upstairs.
When I confront the doctor, he says he had no intention of having sex with the boy and that he only came because he felt badly for the teen who was left home alone.
Jeffrey, screenname "Gbabbnsp" (hidden camera footage transcript): He was so anxious to have some company when he was left by himself for four days, under the circumstances it sounded neglectful.
Hansen: So you're the good Samaritan?
Jeffrey: That's correct.
During his online chat the doctor wasn't as sexually explicit as many of the others who showed up. In fact, you'll see he seemed to choose his words carefully. Below is part of the online chat.
Jeffrey: I'd like very much to be your friend. I don't think I even want to have sex with you until you're old enough for us both not to get in trouble over it.
Jeffrey: Lots more to friendship then sex for sure
Boy: I would not tell
Boy: I done it be4
Jeffrey: Once we know each other well, whatever happens happens but I won't meet you for sex.
But he does suggest getting physical.
After talking about covering the teen with "hugs and kisses," the 50-year-old says to the decoy who he thinks is 14, "I want to cuddle you and make you feel safe and loved and cared about."
Hansen: Experts in this field say that kind of discussion is consistent with somebody who's grooming a young boy for sex. You see what I'm getting at?
Jeffrey: Mm-hmm.
Hansen: What's really going on here?
Jeffrey: What's really going on is I came over to take him to lunch.
Hansen: You ask, have you ever been spanked. He says by my dad but not for sex
Jeffrey: hmm-hmm.
Hansen: You say, "Could it be fun for sex?" He says, "I can try." You say, "Would you want to spank a dad." Now you see how that looks.
Jeffrey: Yeah, looks pretty bad.
The doctor maintains he would never do anything illegal, but acknowledges a meeting like this could appear inappropriate.
Hansen: Now if you had a teenage son who was home alone would you be comfortable with a 50-something-year-old coming into the house for a visit?
Jeffrey: I suppose it would depend on the 50-year-old-man but in general, no I wouldn't.
What about another guy? A man in his position is just about the last person you'd expect to be showing up at our house.
It's 4 a.m. in an AOL chat room. This 54-year old man screenname- "Redbd" messages a 13-year-old boy named Conrad saying, "I'm prowling for young men." What he goes on to say and the pictures he sends are so graphic we had to carefully edit them before putting them on television.
And as you'll hear when we read from his chat log, it's clear "Redbd" knows what he's doing is wrong.
(Chat log) Redbd: You are only 13?
MadC Rad1992 - uhh yea
Redbd: That's rape
MadC Rad1992- dood I tell you that before
Redbd: Yes, I remember.
MadC Rad1992- oh ok
Redbd: just you are sooo sooo young
Redbd: I've never been with a young man like you
Redbd: but I would like to
While the two are chatting online, we conduct a background check and are absolutely shocked by what this man does for a living. And now he's in our kitchen after making a date for sex with a boy he thinks is 13.
Hansen (hidden camera footage transcript): So how can I help you? What are you doing here?
"Redbd": Not something good.
Hansen: Not good? That's kind of an understatement, isn't it? What do you do for a living?
"Redbd": A rabbi.
That's right— a rabbi, the man who sent several pornographic pictures of himself is a man of God. He's been a staff member of a Jewish organization that provides educational programs for Jewish high school students.
Hansen: Now presumably you counsel families and children in your position as a rabbi?
Rabbi David Kaye, screenname "Redbd": Sure.
Hansen: What are you doing as a man of God as a rabbi in this house trying to meet a 13-year-old boy?
Instead of answering, the rabbi asks to know who I am. But before I tell him, I want to ask him about those pictures he sent.
Hansen: You sent pornographic pictures.
David: Okay so?
Hansen: Okay that's a federal offense right there.
David: Okay, look, you know I'm in trouble and I know I'm in trouble. I am not interested in getting in further trouble.
Then we heard that familiar excuse...
David: This is not something that I've done, ever.
Hansen: You've never done this before? You know because I hear that a lot.
Others were on the way, like "special guy29."
Earlier online he told our decoy, who was posing as a 14-year old-boy, that he is an 11th grade English teacher. Then he told the boy that he hates condoms but he's safe.
Our decoy asks "specialguy29" to bring beer and then throws in a request— a technique often used by law enforcement to illustrate intent. He types "side garage is open, strip to your underwear and come in, I'll be in mine."
The man says "I don't wear underwear," so the decoy says "then come in naked."
We never thought he'd really do it. But we were wrong. After casing our house, walking up and down the street—here he comes with the beer and you can guess what he does in the garage. He takes his clothes off.
Hansen (hidden camera footage transcript): Could you explain yourself?
John, screenname "special guy29": I'm sorry
Hansen: Why don't you go ahead and cover up.
John: Certainly. I'm sorry.
The man's name is John Kennelly. He tells me he is 29 years old and a bus driver. Then, he changes it to a teacher.
Hansen: What kind of conduct is this for a high school teacher?
John: None, sir. I've never done this before.
Hansen: So you just woke up this morning and said I'm going to get involved in a Internet conversation with a 14 year old boy. I'm going to go to his house, strip naked and walk in with a 12-pack of beer.
Hansen: What would have happened John if I wasn't here?
John: I probably would have chickened out, sir.
After doing a deeper background check on him, we found out he's neither a teacher nor a bus driver— his father says he's unemployed. And he's not 29, he's actually 43.
Hansen: Do you know that it's illegal to have a conversation on the Internet with the intent to have sex with a minor?
John: Yes sir I do.
He says he knows it's illegal but it appears that's not enough to deter him.
Whether he needs psychiatric help or the hand of the law— he still might pose a threat to a child. But our encounter with Kennelly is far from over.
Like the men you've met so far, you're about to see others who are quick to come up with a story when confronted by an adult ...
But what will they say when they find out they're going to be appear on national television?
A lot of similar excuses
As the men approached our undercover house, hidden cameras rolled and kept rolling as I startled them and started asking questions. Just about everyone of them gave me the same story...
Beck: I've never visited a teenage boy before in my life.
Aladdin: First time in my life this happens to me.
And some came up with more creative
Artie: She said she was 13, that's why I was concerned she's gonna be by herself. So I wanted to stop and talk to her.
Hansen: So you're just being a good Samaritan?
Artie: Yeah.
Hansen: Because there was a 13-year-old girl...
Artie: By herself.
Hansen: Home alone?
Artie: Right.
Hansen: Right so out of the goodness of your heart, you were gonna stop by and baby-sit her, is that the deal?
Artie: Well sort of I guess, order pizza, watch a movie or something.
This guy named Yonis says it's all a case of mistaken identity.
Yonis (hidden camera footage transcript): It's not me. I assure you.
Hansen: Let me get this straight, so there's another guy named Yonis who happens to look like you and have the same cell phone number as you and has a dirty conversation about sex with a 12-year-old girl, but you didn't. But you end up showing up here anyway.
Yonis: No, I am not at all that person.
Just about every man who walked into our house said he really wasn't planning on having sex with a minor. But we'll never know what would have happened had we not been there. Still, none of what we heard surprises Lt. Jacoby of the Fairfax county police department here in Virginia. He says he's heard it all before.
Hansen: "I've never done this before."
Lt. Jacoby: We've heard that one. That's usually or probably not true.
Hansen: "I'm here to protect them."
Jacoby: That's probably one of the biggest ones we also get.
Hansen: "I didn't think I was actually talking to a minor."
Jacoby: Again that's something that we've heard quite often from people.
Hansen: How often do you think we're being lied to when we hear those excuses?
Jacoby: Usually about 100 percent of the time.
A powerful addiction
So why would a man with so much to lose risk everything to meet a child for sex? Dr. David Marcus, a clinical psychologist who treats men with sexual compulsions, says it's a powerful addiction.
Dr. David Marcus, clinical psychologist who treats men with sexual compulsions: They don't know what's driving `em. All they know is they're being driven and they can't stop. And to risk themselves so greatly clearly shows how powerful a ride that is.
Most guys don't go on the Internet and say, "You know, I'm gonna decide to ruin my life today." Most guys go on and say, "I need something to make myself feel better." They're not conscious of what they're doing.
And Dr. Marcus says there are different reasons men choose to meet children for sex.
Marcus: Some, and this may be a minority, have a primary attraction to that age group. Others are looking for a situation where they can feel powerful, where they can, again, explore parts of themselves and try to do things in a situation where there is a power differential.
Whatever power they thought they had, it's lost as soon as they see me, and now they're about to learn I'm not a parent or the police.
So what happens now?
As they always do with law enforcement, Frag and Del, volunteers from Perverted-Justice have turned over all of their online evidence, from the pornographic photos to the online chats, to Lt. Jacoby and his child sex crimes unit at the Fairfax county police department. Lt. Jacoby says they are actively looking at some of these cases, although it will be awhile before we know if his department takes any legal action. His department did notify school officials where about the teacher and he was fired.
Since some of the men were in the army and navy, Del contacted the military. "Dateline" was told that those men are under investigation.
Perverted-Justice intends to put the men's pictures and entire chat logs including their phone numbers on Perverted-Justice.com.
Frag, Perverted-Justice volunteer: We have over 20,000 members now in our forums, do their work, whatever they want to do. A lot of them will contact whoever is associated with that person.
Usually that means the man's employer, relatives and neighbors. Members will direct them to the chat logs and other evidence on Perverted-Justice's Web site hoping to keep men like these from harming children.
The guy who showed up naked, tries to meet another kid the next day
You might think being caught on tape would be enough to deter these men from ever entering a chat room again, but wait until you see what "specialguy29" is up to next.
You might think that a 43-year old man, who walked into our house naked ready to meet a 14-year old boy for sex, would be so humiliated after being caught literally with his pants down that he'd never try again. Yet we find him right back on line... in a chat room the very next day.
Hansen: How can we be certain that this guy in this chat room is the same guy who walked into this house last night naked?
Frag, Perverted-Justice volunteer: Same identical screenname he got busted on last night on "specialguy29."
Del, Perverted-Justice volunteer: He's changed nothing.
He is spotted by a Perverted-Justice volunteer who is posing as a 13-year-old boy.
Frag: He just checked the kids pic.
Even these Perverted-Justice veterans find what's happening hard to believe.
Del: If he keeps talking then that's just gonna be beyond comprehension.
Yet he does keep talking... and again the chat quickly turns sexual. And believe it or not, again, he agrees to yet another date for sex. Our decoy asks if he wants to meet at McDonalds.
Hansen: What do you suppose the odds are that a guy like that would agree to another meeting?
Frag: I would have said zero last night after watching what happened.
Well, "specialguy29" defies the odds and agrees to meet, but first he confirms the meeting is not about food.
Frag: He really wanted to make sure it was about sex.
Sure enough we see him at the pre-arranged McDonalds.
Hansen: I have been in television for 24 years—
John, screenname "specialguy29": I just came to get something to eat.
Hansen: And I have very seldom be at a loss for words.
John: Sir, I just came to get something to eat.
Hansen: But I don't even know what to ask you first.
John: I just came to get something to eat.
He later changes his story.
Hansen: Last night you walked into a home in suburban Washington naked with a 12- pack of beer, yes or no?
John: Yes.
Hansen: Right. Today you're on the Internet again, you have an inappropriate conversation with a boy you think is 13 and you set up a meeting here at this fast food restaurant. What was your intention?
John: I don't know.
The man admits he knows what he's doing is illegal.
Hansen: Then why do you do it?
John: Because I need help and that's what I'm seeing a psychiatrist for.
As incredible as this looks, that a man would do this twice in two days, Lt. Jacoby isn't all that surprised.
"If you look at the Internet and the amount of people who are soliciting these type of crimes, your chances of getting caught are probably fairly slim," says Lt. Jacoby.
Maybe that's why so many of the men who visited our house walked in so confidently, almost like they owned the place. Remember Rabbi David Kaye?
Despite his actions, caught on hidden camera, and his graphic Internet exchange, Rabbi Kaye called us several times claiming he did nothing wrong.
However, earlier this week he resigned his rabbi staff position informing his employer he was going to be featured in this "Dateline" story. He also had no comment about this picture "Dateline" found while investigating the rabbi's background. It shows Kaye in a group photo including two other rabbis caught and convicted of soliciting a child for sex on the Internet.
Hansen: Do you ever think to yourself, "I can't believe how many people are out there."
Jacoby: It's overwhelming at times.
In the end, most experts agree it's really up to parents to keep children safe from whoever's out there.
What can parents do?
"If the technology is in your house, it's a parents responsibility to protect their child," says Michelle Collins from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. She adds that the problem is so widespread your child could be a victim and you don't even know it.
Michelle Collins, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: If there are phone calls arriving at your house that you don't know the person on the other end of the line. Is your child or teenager receiving gifts? Do they have a Web cam in their room that you didn't buy?
Hansen: These are all warning signs?
Collins: These are all the things that happen quite frankly in the many cases that we view and that we work with law enforcement on.
Collins says it's important for all of us parents to make certain computers are in open areas of our homes— not in kids bedrooms. We should know who their children are talking to online and Web cams
Collins: A problem we've been seeing recently are Web cams. Many kids are finding themselves in problematic situations after having used a Web cam. A combination of too much privacy, too much technology at a sexually curious age can really spell disaster.
Child safety experts agree it's important for parents to use parental controls available through Internet providers and check into blocking software that prevents a child from giving out personal information.
Collins: The one single most important piece of advice to give to parents is to keep the communication lines open with your kids. If something happens online, it's more important that an adult finds out about it than the child try to handle it on their own, because those cases don't always end well.
Rabbi, Teacher,
Doctor Lose Jobs Over TV Sex Sting
Associated Press - November 5, 2004
http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_309072713.html
(AP) Rockville, MD A Potomac rabbi who is part of a national youth group, a Prince George's County teacher and an Eastern Shore doctor have lost their jobs after allegedly trying to solicit sex from minors online. It was part of an undercover probe by the television show "Dateline NBC," that aired Friday night.
According to a statement from Rockville-based PANIM: the Institute for Jewish Leaders and Values, Rabbi David Kaye resigned from his position as vice president this week.
Prince George's County school officials say Steven Benoff, a special education teacher at Woodridge Elementary School in Prince George's, was fired August 23rd. Benoff, of Washington, was fired after Fairfax County, Virginia, police notified the system about "information relating to children."
After an investigation, Shore Health System of Maryland has barred an unnamed doctor who had worked at Memorial Hospital in Easton and Dorchester General Hospital, barred him from practicing at any system facility.
None of the men have been charged.
A "Dateline NBC" camera crew conducted an online sting with the Internet watchdog group, Perverted Justice, in which 19 men went to a house believing they would meet 12- to 14-year old children.
Instead, they were confronted by "Dateline" reporter Chris Hansen.
U.S. rabbi resigns over online sex
scandal
Associated Press - November 6, 2005
Dateline NBC reports that Potomac rabbi, Prince George's County teacher, Eastern Shore doctor lose jobs for allegedly trying to solicit sex from minors online
Associated Press
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3164809,00.html
A Potomac rabbi who is part of a national youth group, a Prince George's County teacher and an Eastern Shore doctor have lost their jobs after allegedly trying to solicit sex from minors online. It was part of an undercover probe by the television show "Dateline NBC," that aired Friday night.
According to a statement from Rockville-based PANIM - The Institute for Jewish Leaders and Values, Rabbi David Kaye resigned from his position as vice president this week.
Prince George's County school officials say Steven Benoff, a special education teacher at Woodridge Elementary School in Prince George's, was fired August 23rd. Benoff, of Washington, was fired after Fairfax County, Virginia, police notified the system about "information relating to children."
After an investigation, Shore Health System of Maryland has barred an unnamed doctor who had worked at Memorial Hospital in Easton and Dorchester General Hospital, barred him from practicing at any system facility.
None of the men have been charged.
A "Dateline NBC" camera crew conducted an online sting with the Internet watchdog group, Perverted Justice, in which 19 men went to a house believing they would meet 12- to 14-year-old children.
Instead, they were confronted by "Dateline" reporter Chris Hansen.
Rabbi caught in Internet sex
sting
by Stephanie Siegel, Staff Writer
The Business Gazette - November 9, 2005
http://www.gazette.net/stories/110905/potonew212017_31929.shtml
Rabbi David Kaye served at Congregation Har Shalom for 15 years until 2001.
Parents at Congregation Har Shalom synagogue in Potomac — shaken by the revelation that their former rabbi allegedly used the Internet to arrange a meeting with an underage boy for sex — will get a lesson in online safety this week.
Rabbi David Kaye was the rabbi at Har Shalom for 15 years until 2001. ``Dateline NBC" reported Friday that Kaye and several other adults were caught in an Internet sting.
``People were shocked and saddened," said Har Shalom President Debbie Schapiro.
In reaction to the ``Dateline" program, Schapiro said the congregation is holding a meeting this week with parents of children in seventh through ninth grades with experts who will discuss how to talk to children about being safe on the Internet.
``We've learned as parents that we have to be careful with our children," she said. There were never any allegations of inappropriate behavior with minors at the synagogue, Schapiro said.
Kaye, 55, of Potomac, was caught in an investigation of online child predators by NBC correspondent Chris Hansen and watchdog group Perverted Justice in August. Members of Perverted Justice posed as children ages 12 to 14 in online chat rooms.
Kaye allegedly sent naked pictures of himself over the Internet to one member of the watchdog group and arranged to meet him at a house in Northern Virginia, where the NBC crew and Perverted Justice group were waiting.
Kaye was one of 19 men who showed up at the house after arranging online to meet children there for sex.
The Montgomery County Police Department Family Crimes Division is following up with the Fairfax County Police and with members of Perverted Justice to get more information and to determine if there will be any charges, said Lt. Eric Burnett, director of the Media Services Division for Montgomery County Police.
``It's very disheartening," Schapiro said. ``A lot of people are just feeling very sad."
During his time at Har Shalom, Kaye served as an associate rabbi. He had broad responsibilities at the 1,100-family synagogue, including leading services and teaching adult education and children.
Kaye resigned last week from his position as vice president for program at PANIM: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values, an education program for teenagers in Rockville.
``Rabbi David Kaye ... informed me of certain personal conduct that took place outside of our organization, that may soon be aired as part of a larger news story on national television," PANIM President Rabbi Sid Schwarz said in a statement on the group's Web site dated Oct. 31. ``He immediately tendered his resignation, which I accepted."
In his statement, Schwarz said that the group is investigating to make sure there has been no misconduct at PANIM. There have been no complaints, allegations or evidence of improprieties, the statement said.
What we don't want
to hide about hidden cameras
Lisa Green, Senior Producer, Broadcast Standards
MSNBC - November 8, 2005
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9878187/%23Hansen
Meetings. Hours of editing tape and reviewing transcripts. Still more meetings. The Dateline NBC investigations featured here have something in common: they are the products of a series of steps and a set of principles that help us decide when and how to use this powerful but controversial technique. Today, as viewers demand more transparency from journalists, it's especially important that we explain why we think hidden camera is an important part of our work.
Hidden cameras let us get close to people who, if they knew our plans, might well change their behavior, and that helps explain why you find hidden camera work in some of the most important investigations Dateline NBC has broadcast. But because the use of hidden camera — and our failure to identify ourselves as journalists up front — is so different from our usual methods of gathering information, we take care to limit its use to situations where we have an important story to tell, and strongly suspect that introducing ourselves would make that story evaporate. Would vendors serve an identifiable NBC News crew more beers than their rules allowed? Would potential Internet predators behave the same way if they knew we were watching? In each of these cases, we concluded that we needed to get to the story without introducing ourselves first.
Other factors are at work before our journalists begin. We meet to discuss journalism and editorial policy issues the story might raise. Our lawyers check to be sure our investigation is legal— relevant privacy and taping laws vary from state to state. And after the material is gathered, but before you see it, we take a close look at what we have, aiming always to give subjects a full and fair chance to respond to what we captured. We also think hard about what to include, making sure you get to hear what the subjects of our investigations have to say.
That said, each of these stories posed different challenges and prompted serious discussions. The Internet predator spot, for example, meant we spent a lot of time reading complete transcripts of the online chats between Perverted-Justice volunteers, posing as sexually available teens, and the men who chose to talk to them. We struggled to share this material with you without running afoul of good taste because the chats drove home just how unwelcome these men would be in the life of your child. If you watch the hour, pay attention to our explanations of how and why we came to report this extraordinary story. I hope we did a good enough job of explaining our decisions, and I hope you'll share your responses with us.
No charges expected against rabbi
'Dateline' reaction one of sadness
by Eric Fingerhut, Staff Writer
Washington Jewish Week - November 09, 2005
http://www.washingtonjewishweek.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=4341&TM=58.018
Sadness and shock seem to be the most common reactions to the
news that Rockville Rabbi David Kaye was ensnared in a Dateline NBC hidden
camera investigation of sexual predators on the Internet.
A former rabbi at Potomac's Congregation Har Shalom, where he had worked for 16 years, Kaye resigned last week as vice president of program after three years at the Rockville-based teen educational group Panim: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values.
Leaders of both groups say that they never received a complaint about his behaving inappropriately with a child during his employment with their organizations.
The Dateline program, which aired last Friday evening, reported that Kaye had set up a meeting over the Internet with someone he thought was a 13-year-old boy Æ with the intent of having a sexual encounter. The rabbi was then confronted on camera by a Dateline reporter at the Herndon house where the meeting was scheduled to take place (see sidebar, page 25).
Despite the impression left by the report, though, Kaye does not appear to be in legal jeopardy. A spokesperson for the Fairfax County Police Department said Monday that the department does not anticipate filing any charges against Kaye or many of the other men identified as potential predators in the NBC broadcast.
Officer Bud Walker, public spokesperson, said that while it is a felony in Virginia to use the Internet to solicit sex with a minor, the commonwealth would not have jurisdiction in Kaye's case.
Dateline used people affiliated with an organization called Perverted Justice, whose volunteers pose as children online in order to expose potential Internet predators. But those volunteers were based in Michigan, said Walker. Kaye and many of the others caught up in the sting lived in Maryland, leaving Virginia without the ability to prosecute.
Walker called Perverted Justice's methods problematic.
The self-styled "watchdog group" says that it turns over chat logs and other information it gathers to the police. Critics, and even Dateline, have labeled the organization a group of vigilantes.
Walker said the organization uses tactics that Fairfax police officers are not permitted to employ when going undercover as children on the Internet. For instance, Walker noted that the Fairfax police can "never make initial contact" with a potential predator, but must "wait to be contacted," and can "never suggest any meeting."
He also pointed out that cases using Perverted Justice information are difficult to prosecute in court, since the police cannot guarantee that Perverted Justice has provided the complete transcripts of the alleged conversations.
Walker said that Fairfax County would be making referrals to other jurisdictions.
The Montgomery County Police Department is aware of the Dateline sting, but as of Tuesday afternoon had not received any information from other jurisdictions, nor been contacted by any potential victims of Kaye, said Lucille Baur, public information officer for the department.
Kaye could not be reached for comment this week. Both his home phone number and a cell phone number posted on the Perverted Justice Web site have been disconnected. Reached last week, he had no comment.
His most recent employer, Rockville-based Panim, said in a statement this week that it "never received a single complaint by any participant" about Kaye's conduct and it has a "zero tolerance policy" on such behavior.
Panim's executive director, Rabbi Sid Schwarz, would not make himself available for an interview this week, referring calls to high-powered defense attorney Abbe Lowell, who is representing former American Israel Public Affairs Committee staffer Steve Rosen and scandal-plagued lobbyist Jack Abramoff, among others.
Lowell said that Panim will evaluate its hiring procedures to see if "more can be done" to check prospective employees' backgrounds.
He expected the review to "take as long as it takes," but said it was likely to be "weeks, not months."
Lowell added that Kaye had been a rabbi in the Washington area for more than a decade and "not an unknown quantity" when he was hired in the spring of 2002.
The attorney also said that Kaye primarily worked on programming and had "less contact directly" with teens than other Panim staffers.
Based on the lack of complaints about Kaye, said Lowell, the organization believes that "the issues [Kaye] had in his own [personal] life never crossed over" into Panim.
As for the chat transcripts in which Kaye writes that he is at work, Lowell said that "we don't accept those statements at face value," considering that the Dateline report demonstrated that Kaye had been misrepresenting himself to Panim and the community.
Lowell said that the controversy has had no effect on Panim's supporters, and that no schools have canceled scheduled programs with the organization.
Among them are the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, which sent an e-mail to the parents of juniors and seniors at the school on Monday saying that it would be sending its 11th graders to a Panim program designed exclusively for JDS students next month.
The statement said the school was "proud of its association with Panim" and "confident in the integrity and leadership of Rabbi Schwarz and the Panim leadership.
At Har Shalom, Rabbi H. David Rose said the congregation feels "great shock" at the revelations.
"For people who put their trust and faith in him, it hurts," said Rose, who said he has been listening to congregants express their concerns.
Synagogue president Debbie Schapiro mailed a letter to congregants early this week, emphasizing that the congregation's "utmost concern has and always will be care of our families" and that "we are here for them."
The letter also pointed out that there have been no allegations of such inappropriate behavior in the 40-year history of the shul, but that the synagogue would be undertaking an inquiry to be certain.
Other congregants said they were shocked and sad, expressing sympathy in particular for Kaye's two grown daughters and saying they never saw any indications of inappropriate actions during his Har Shalom tenure.
"There was no sign at all" of such behavior when Kaye was at the synagogue, said Barry Perlis of Potomac, who noted his three children had gone through Hebrew school at the synagogue and had no problems with the rabbi.
One person who worked at the synagogue, however, said that Kaye had an anger management problem, often yelling and humiliating staffers. The person noted, though, that he could also turn around and be someone's best friend if he needed something Æ almost like he had a "split personality."
Young adults who grew up as congregants at Har Shalom were taken aback by the report, but did not recall Kaye's behaving inappropriately.
Shawn Eskow of Potomac said that the news was "extremely surprising."
"Rabbi Kaye was one of my favorite rabbis," said the 22-year-old. "He always seemed friendly, comforting and welcoming, but I never would have suspected anything like this."
"I still can't believe it. You'd never believe something like this would happen to Rabbi Kaye," said Randi Mininsohn, who was confirmed at Har Shalom and now lives in New York City.
"It's a real shock to see that the rabbi that you grew up with, learned and received mentorship from, could be involved in such offensive actions," said Jared Adler, 22, of Chicago, who said he was "filled with disappointment and anger" when watching the program.
In San Antonio, where Kaye spent less than six months as rabbi at Congregation Agudas Achim in 2001-02, executive director Jo Halfant said there were no reports of sexually inappropriate behavior while he was there.
She said that Kaye's quick departure came after that the congregation and the rabbi "mutually agreed it was not a good fit," noting that South Texas is a "different lifestyle" than the East Coast.
Meanwhile, the executive vice president of the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly, Rabbi Joel Meyers, did not return messages left for him requesting comment.
Kaye's biography, which was quickly removed from the Panim Web site after his resignation last week, said that the rabbi had been a "leader" in the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and had been instrumental in creating a number of youth and Jewish educational initiatives.
A federation spokesperson said that Kaye's work for the federation "did not entail any direct work with teenagers." The rabbi served "as a member and later chair of both the Israel Quest committee and the Jewish educational division" of the federation," which "recommended policy and allocations related to formal and informal Jewish education," she said.
The Panim bio also said Kaye had staffed "numerous USY conventions and retreats." United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism officials said they were not aware of Kaye's participation in any USY activities in recent years, and said that "tough guidelines" are in place on the issue of sexual conduct.
Meanwhile, the Dateline report also flashed a picture on the screen of Kaye with about a dozen other rabbis, two of whom are convicted sexual offenders. The photo comes from a fall 2000 newsletter published by The HealthCare Chaplaincy and was taken after a two-week "reflection and study program of suffering, healing and hope" organized by the chaplaincy's Jewish Institute for Pastoral Care.
Vicki Polin, executive director and founder of The Awareness Center, a victims' rights organization for victims of sexual abuse in the Jewish community that has the photo posted on its Web site, said the picture could be just an very odd coincidence, but that sexual offenders often tend to find each other.
WJW intern David Silverman contributed to this report.
Why the 'Dateline' predators were not
charged
Abrams asks why men looking for underage sex were allowed to walk free
MSNBC - November 9, 2005
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9976909#storyContinued
During "Dateline NBC's" recent hidden camera investigation, 19 were caught going to a suburban home where they thought they'd be meeting with sexually available teens. Some made a run for it when they went into the kitchen and saw NBC's Chris Hansen waiting.
One came into the house completely naked and sat down in the kitchen, where Hansen met him and kindly handed him a towel to cover himself up. A rabbi was so upset at being caught that he even seemingly went after Hansen.
But why aren't any of these guys being prosecuted?
In Fairfax, Va. -- where the hidden camera investigation took place -- police say no crimes were committed.
On Tuesday, Del Harvey from perverted-justice.com, who acted as a decoy in this operation, former Virginia State Prosecutor Tim McEvoy, and former federal prosecutor Matthew Yarbrough joined MSNBC's Dan Abrams to discuss why these men were allowed to walk free.
DAN ABRAMS: All right. Tim, first let me start with you. I mean it seems pretty clear that there are laws against even sending some of this material that they sent to the decoys, why is no one being charged?
TIM MCEVOY, FORMER VIRGINIA PROSECUTOR: Dan, I think the question is extremely legitimate. And I think issue here is not whether the authorities are outraged or upset. But the initial disgust that we all feel as members of the public has got to be tempered by the prosecutor because these cases often rise or fall as you know on intent, you know as seen through the filter of reasonable doubt. And the prosecutors got to weigh all of the evidence, the jury is going to parse every little movement. You're going to see professionals, as the piece showed, who are otherwise trying to show that they're good people, trying to throw substantial doubt...
ABRAMS: But wait. Tim, the law is pretty clear. I mean let me just read from the law, all right. "It is unlawful for a person 18 or older to use
