News-Record.com

Those salacious, hidden-camera exposes of online child predators on NBC would be comical if they weren't so deeply disturbing.

Grown men bounce happily, one after another, into strange houses in hopes of twisted liaisons with young girls and boys they've made contact with via the Internet.

Armed with a goofy smile and, often, a six-pack of beer, each takes a seat while his unseen "blind date" asks him to make himself at home.

Then, suddenly, he finds himself on "Candid Camera."

"What were you thinking?" he's asked on national, prime-time TV.

In one case, a man strips naked in someone's kitchen while he awaits who he thinks is a teenage girl.

When confronted by a camera crew, the man sheepishly admits the error of his ways as the lecturing reporter mercifully hands him a towel to cover himself.

What's even more amazing by the obviously popular "Dateline" series is the types of men snared in the stings: school teachers, military personnel, coaches, a parent who dares bring his toddler along — and even a rabbi.

But there's more. Some have suddenly found themselves on national TV after having seen the show themselves. And some have made repeat appearances on the show.

Fool me once, shame on you ....

The stings were conducted in conjunction with an anti-online predator group called Perverted Justice and occurred in cities, suburbs and small towns.

None of these scenes was set in the Triad. But they could have been.

Joe Killian's July 5 News & Record article notes the Greensboro Police Department's efforts to catch online predators using similar tactics.

"So you don't have to look far for someone who's looking to solicit you if they think you're an underage girl?" Killian asks Cpl. Williams.

"No, not at all," Williams says. "When chatting online I would say I get an average of two solicitations every hour. That's not just guys who are saying ‘hi.' That's solicitations for sex."

The Guilford County Sheriff's Office conducts similar operations that have netted a dozen arrests over three years, says Sheriff BJ Barnes.