Perverted Justice: Ethical Concerns

In order evaluate the ethical practices of NBC's "Predator" series, it is important to highlight some of the ethical concerns surrounding Perverted Justice, as NBC has been sharply criticized for collaborating with the online group. PeeJ has a great many supporters who see it as an altruistic, grassroots movement saving children from potential sex abusers before they have a chance to be hurt. Over the years, various law enforcement agents and child safety advocates have praised PeeJ for its work. For many small or medium-sized police departments, a sting similar to what PeeJ does would be too time consuming and costly to undertake without the group's assistance.

But PeeJ has at least as many enemies as it has friends. There are several websites devoted to attacking Von Erck and his anonymous volunteer brigades and outing and identifying the people who conduct the PeeJ stings.₇The anti-PeeJ activists describe themselves as combating a ruthless, online vigilante group that regularly harasses and invades the privacy of the family and friends of its targets.₈

More and more websites like PeeJ are cropping up, sites dedicated to exposing people who commit major and minor offenses. Online, people can publish photos of individuals with bad cell phone etiquette, the license plate numbers of reckless drivers, the names and phone numbers of bad dates, deadbeat dads, cheating wives and drug-abusing friends. Some Internet observers see watchdog websites like PeeJ as an online extension of the hidden camera exposes that have delighted TV audiences for decades.₁₀

Before PeeJ began cooperating closely with law enforcement, and even now if the police are too slow to respond, the group is fond of taking justice into its own hands in a practice called "Follow Up." "Follow Up" begins with PeeJ volunteers attempting to track down family members, friends, neighbors, and the employer of a suspected pedophile. Volunteers then make phone calls to notify the suspect's friends and acquaintances about his online activities. The man's name, address and whatever else volunteers find on him are posted on the PeeJ website along with a transcript of the man's salacious chat with an underage decoy. The personal information for the target's friends and family members is also posted on the PeeJ online forums so volunteers can contact them.₈ PeeJ defends "Follow Up" as a practice meant to persuade the target's acquaintances to help him seek treatment. In late 2006, PeeJ announced "Follow Up" was no longer necessary because of its increased cooperation with police jurisdictions.₄

But the scads of vocal PeeJ critics insist the group continues to inappropriately make contact with and invade the privacy of individuals associated with the group's targets. Von Erck says the group's tactics aren't harsh considering the kind of men they deal with. Von Erck calls his operation "analogous to the sex offender registry."₈ But Scott Morrow, PeeJ's most vociferous critic, counters that not even sex offender registries list the names and background information of neighbors, friends and family members of the accused. Morrow, the creator of the anti-PeeJ site Corrupted-Justice.com, accuses PeeJ of harassment designed "to destroy a person's life" perpetrated by anonymous volunteers using screen names.₈

Morrow says PeeJ volunteers have made mistakes and harassed innocent people, and the group should be accountable for errors since their actions could easily ruin a person's reputation. Morrow, like many others, balks at NBC for its collaboration with PeeJ. "They're not only working with untrained, anonymous vigilantes, now they're paying them, too."₃ Like other critics of the "Predator" series, Morrow maintains NBC could cover the story of online sexual predation without relying on PeeJ. Furthermore, Morrow suggests NBC should cover PeeJ - who they are and what they do - rather than pay them for their collaboration.

Other PeeJ skeptics, including the U.S. Center for Missing and Exploited Children, say PeeJ's tactics are not the safest, most effective way to combat the problem.₁₁The PeeJ website, and now the "Predator" series, could send real child sex predators into hiding, critics say. Although PeeJ counters that this is in fact their goal - to banish sex predators from the online places children visit - it may prompt the people who pose real threats to children to change their screen names and simply be more careful in the future._4,8

Xavier Von Erck himself has been attacked as a fanatic, whose participation in the "Predator" series jeopardizes NBC's standing as a reputable news agency. Von Erck regularly goes off on vicious rants aimed at various targets on his blog. He once complained about the conduct of hostage Nicholas Berg in Iraq, who "kneeled meekly" and "bended to the will of his kidnappers" in the moments before being executed. Of 9/11 conspiracy theorists, Von Erck says, "I wish I could fucking kill them. Yes, kill. I'd like to kill them. Kill them all...I want you to die. Why don't you just die? Just die."₇

Von Erck once set out to destroy an online enemy by posing as a woman and seducing his target over a period of months. The man, Bruce Raisley, had posted threatening, but demented comments on the PeeJ website. Von Erck says he contacted the police, but they didn't act fast enough. He spent months posing as a woman and cultivating an online relationship with Raisley. They had cyber sex twice, and eventually, Raisley told his wife about the relationship, rented an apartment for the two of them and went to the airport with flowers, supposedly to finally meet his online lover. But the last laugh was Von Erck's, who sent a photographer to the airport to capture the hopeful expression on Raisley's face. Von Erck then posted those photos, the entire text of Raisley's chats and a warning on the PeeJ website: "We at Perverted-Justice.com will only tolerate so much in the way of threats and attacks against us."₇

The layout of the PeeJ website - complete with "sliminess scales" for the "wannabe pedophiles" and thong underwear for sale that reads, "Contents aged at least 18 years" - has been criticized by some for making entertainment out of the exploitation of children. Ironically, PeeJ has also been accused of "disseminating its own brand of child pornography."₉ Peter Greenspun, the lawyer who defended David A. Kaye, 55, the Rockville, Md., rabbi caught in a "Predator" sting, criticized PeeJ for publishing obscene chatlogs on its site. "They are putting out for unfiltered, unrestricted public consumption the most graphic sexual material that they themselves say is of a perverted nature," Greenspun said.₉ Kaye was ultimately sentenced to 6.5 years in prison after he was convicted on charges of enticement and traveling to meet a minor for illicit sexual contact.