Why Did 'To Catch A Predator' Get Canceled? The True Story Behind Louis Conradt, The Texas District Attorney Who Shot Himself On The Spot In Front Of Dateline's Cameras

To Catch a Predator was a highly popular TV series of activists catching pedophiles by hiring decoys to act as minors online. The show’s goal was to create sting operations to charge adults attempting to sexually victimize children. The perpetrators on the show believe they are communicating with boys and girls from the ages of 11 to 15, sending them explicit images and texts. The “suspected” predators eventually agree to meet up with the decoys, only to encounter the show’s host – Chris Hansen – for interrogation. 

They are arrested shortly after being questioned, and most were faced with charges like soliciting sex from a minor. Not all individuals were convicted of charges relating to the attempt of meeting minors for sex. The program frequently shocked its audience members, as some of these perpetrators were teachers, rabbis, doctors, and even police officers. They all ranged from young to old, and some of them were people you would least expect to victimize children.

The show ran from November 2004 to December 2007 on the network MSNBC. However, not too many people are familiar with the reason why the series ended. The truth is, To Catch a Predator got canceled after one man from Texas was supposed to get caught in one of their operations. 

Who Is Louis Conradt Jr.? 

56-year-old Louis William Conradt Jr. was an assistant district attorney who resided in Terrell, Texas. Conradt posed as a 19-year-old university student named Wil when he first contacted – who he believed to be – a 13-year-old boy named "Luke." Little did he know, the pubescent teen he was so eager to speak with was actually a decoy set up by Dateline's To Catch a Predator. 

Conradt supposedly would ask Luke for pictures of his penis and would send back inappropriate and explicit images in return. The photos the DA sent weren't specifically of himself, but they all were pornographic in nature. Conradt did, however, eventually send Luke a picture of his own penis. In their discussions, Conradt would often express his desire to have sex with Luke and engage in other disturbing acts. 

The producers of the show eventually hired a voice actor to play as Luke on the phone. However, Conradt stopped responding to the calls and texts, so the police decided to confront him in his own home in Terrell. Thus, the warrant for his arrest was signed, and the police in Murphy decided to use a SWAT team to enter his home, per Dateline NBC's recommendation. The police department also worked with a watchdog group, Perverted Justice, to set up the sting operations. 

On November 5, 2006, the SWAT team proceeded to break the lock on Conradt’s door and swept through his home when they finally came face-to-face with him in a hallway. Conradt held a Browning .380 handgun as he told the SWAT team and camera crew, "I'm not going to hurt anyone." He then shot himself on the spot and was later pronounced dead at a Dallas Hospital. A year later, it was found that the district attorney's devices contained child pornography. According to the investigation reports, Conradt’s laptops, phone, and computer disks “contained pornographic material (and) some included child pornography.” 

It was later found that if Conradt had not taken his own life and went to trial with the evidence that police had at the time, much of it would have been thrown out since his warrant had the wrong date for serving, as well as an incorrect county. For these reasons, it's possible Conradt would have been acquitted of charges. 

Louis Conradt’s Sister Sues Dateline NBC 

His estate, which was managed by his sister Patricia Conradt, filed a suit against Dateline for $105 million. The case was eventually settled (but the price was not disclosed) by NBC in 2008. Patricia Conradt accused NBC Universal Inc. of taking over police duties and failing to protect her brother, stating that NBC was "concerned more with its own profits than with pedophilia."

The Murphy Police Department and its chief Billy Myrick allegedly mishandled the arrest by taking orders from the Dateline NBC news crew on the sting operation. The allegations were denied by both parties until Esquire Magazine showed Murphy officers heeding the instructions of Chris Hansen, Frag, and the rest of the Dateline crew just hours prior to Conradt's arrest. 

In 2008, To Catch a Predator was officially canceled. According to Hansen, the show had simply run its course. Times reports that the show’s “advertiser discomfort” following Conradt’s suicide is the likeliest reason for the show’s demise. 

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