In the mid-aughts, few shows captured the zeitgeist quite like Dateline NBCās āTo Catch a Predator,ā starring host Chris Hansen.
The reality television series saw Hansen and his team pose as underage Children in online forums to entice potential statutory rapists to come visit the āchildā at home.
Most episodes followed a similar structure, in which the adult would meet an actor posing as a young child, before Hansen and his camera crew would swoop in for the ultimate āgotchaā moment.
The show only lasted from 2004 to 2007, due in no small part to its exploding popularity (thus making it much harder to nab potential criminals). But the influence of the show can still be felt all these years later.
Imitators and impersonators have swiftly cropped up since āTo Catch a Predatorā finished its run, with everyone from clout-chasing vigilantes to those genuinely concerned for Children getting in on the action.
Seeing some sort of riff on āTo Catch a Predatorā in 2023 is hardly novel or new ā so that should tell you something about this wildly Viral Video that is making the rounds on the internet.
YouTube content creator Skeeter Jean, who has a million subscribers, posted a video on Friday titled āPlaying a Pred in Mortal Kombat 1: If he Loses, I Call the Cops.ā
If you need that title broken down, āPredā is shorthand for āchild predatorā and āMortal Kombat 1ā is a new fighting video game that just released in September.
The rest of the title speaks for itself.
WARNING: The following video contains content that some viewers may find disturbing
In the Viral clip, which has garnered over a half-million views in just a day, Jean fills in for the role of Hansen as he and his team lured a man who was apparently trying to meet an underage girl.
But whereas when Hansen typically revealed himself, he would give the person a chance to explain themselves, Jean had a different offer for the person identified simply as āBig Herm.ā
āSo weāre going to be in the other room while heās playing the game with who he thinks is a, you know, girl, and uh, Iām going to come out and have a few words with him and before we let him go, weāre going to give him a choice.
āHeās going to be able to play me in a first to three Mortal Kombat and if he wins, he gets to walk away scot-free, and if he loses, then you know, unfortunately weāre going to have to get the authorities involved, because this is illegal activity.ā
The rest of the video goes as one would expect: Jean beats āBig Hermā before āauthoritiesā get involved.
Now, this is where things get very odd and brings the validity of this stunt into question ā¦ as āBig Hermā seemed to get off with little more than a slap on the wrist.
A quick glance at Jeanās YouTube page also reveals that he calls himself a āprofessional Chris Hansenā impersonator and shows a number of similar stunt videos (one was titled ā49 Year Old Man Comes to Meet Underage Boy but Meets Michael Myers Instead.ā)
Do you think the video was staged?
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In most of these videos, the accused men genuinely seem distraught and contrite for whatever it is they are allegedly there to do with young Children ā¦ but itās difficult to shake the feeling that this is as real as a pro-wrestling outcome.
Feel free to sound off in the comments on whether or not you think this stunt was real.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.