“Total SICKO!” - Catching Predators Legend on Epstein Files & Roblox COVERUP | Chris Hansen • 397
Julian Dorey · 17 Mar 2026 · 2h 46m
Guest: Chris Hansen · Host: Joey Def, Julian Dorey
This conversation with Chris Hansen, the longtime host of To Catch a Predator, moves from the origin story of his sting operations to the current wave of revelations about elite sexual abuse networks and predatory activity on the gaming platform Roblox. Hansen recounts how his first investigation in Bethpage, Long Island began without law enforcement present and describes the improvisational chaos of those early stings, including mixed-up transcripts and guns found on suspects. He offers a rough typology of offenders he's interviewed over two decades, from lifelong 'hardcore' predators to young opportunists to men who slide into offending after escalating pornography use. Much of the discussion turns to Jeffrey Epstein: Hansen describes regretting not pursuing the story harder when he first learned of it around 2015-2016, discusses the code language found in released emails, recounts an interview with a survivor who woke in a surgical suite at Epstein's New Mexico ranch, and argues that unverified material in the Epstein files demands caution even as it reveals the impunity enjoyed by wealthy, powerful associates. The back half focuses on Hansen's ongoing documentary investigation into predators exploiting children on Roblox, including grooming cases, the nihilistic online group 764, a young whistleblower called Schlep, and Hansen's frustration that Roblox has declined to sit for an on-camera interview despite his repeated requests. He closes with reflections on parenting, online safety, and stories from his pre-Dateline career covering 9/11 and international sex-trafficking investigations.
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What comes up
Timestamps link into the episode on YouTube.
- Early Dateline predator sting in Bethpage
- Guns and danger during stings
- Typology of predators: three categories
- Link between child porn viewing and offending
- Female predators and double standards
- Jeffrey Epstein's rise and the 2008 plea deal
- Survivor account of New Mexico ranch surgical suite
- Epstein 'jerky' code-word emails
- Roblox predator investigation and Discord/764 groups
- Roblox's refusal to sit for an interview
- Sextortion and teen suicide cases
- Advice for parents on online safety
Said on this episode
Quoted from the auto-generated transcript, which mishears names and technical terms. podcite.com reports what a show said; it does not endorse or fact-check it.
“the need to fulfill this fantasy overrides common sense or or any respect for the law or for a child.”
“There is without exception when somebody gets caught offending a link to viewing child porn.”
“I mean, this this is something that I have not seen in 45 years of being a journalist.”