CAN YOU BECOME FRIENDS WITH A PREDATOR? - PODCAST #39
Added 2022-03-21 14:45:34 +0000 UTCEven though I chat with some predators for years, it's all part of the job and I am simply acting in my role as a child – I'm completely fake and I don't want to be their friend. Sometimes, however, one can be blindsided.
Comments
Listening to this way later, but I had a very good friend turn out to be a horrible person that my group had to ghost. I trusted them maybe more than anyone else; just shows that it really can be anyone.
Kermunist
2023-05-28 12:50:09 +0000 UTCHope you do a podcast over how you'd react to a family member being outed (and eventually convicted) as a predator. It's relevant to me bc my dad was sentenced a decade ago for being predatory,/pedophilic, and I occasionally end up writing him, just to make sure he hasn't been killed in prison. -_-
Kyla
2022-06-09 19:08:01 +0000 UTCThat is a whole other level!! I hope you can cope with this truth. I try to imagine how difficult this must be for you and your siblings, stay strong!
Rosanna dots
2022-04-15 23:29:06 +0000 UTCI thought I was friends with a predator. I was 15 at that time and he was 23, he had a girlfriend too. So we talked and met sometime, just to hang out. One day everything changed because we went for a car ride in his car and he did things with me without consent. I froze at that moment. It was awkward after that and I blamed it on myself, nobody knew about this. After months I opened up about it to my girl friends and some of them experienced the same thing with this dude (they were the same age as me). So I kind of assumed it was normal. After a year of thinking about it and not feeling like myself I went to the police, they brushed it off and told me it was "just a bad sexual experience". Now I'm 23, not really over what happened that day but okay with living this truth. The thing that bothers me most is that this guy has a daughter now, with the same girlfriend he had at that time. Turns out the girlfriend knew all about what happened and blamed the girls who were his victim. She didn't want to believe the victims for her own sanity I guess.. I chatted a lot online too between the ages of 13 to 18. The number of 20+ year olds talking sexually with me being a minor at the time is insane. I didn't see the possible consequences and wanted to see the best in people. Plain naïve, just as many other teenagers. Anyway you're doing such an important job! I love your content, but please do think about your own mental/physical health too! Predators are crazily draining.
Rosanna dots
2022-04-15 23:17:31 +0000 UTC@cherryDaniels I agree. Then he tried to gaslight me because I stalked his insta to find out. And he called me toxic and said he would never do that… it was a whole thing
Virtualbum
2022-04-01 17:37:12 +0000 UTCthats not even dating...thats straight up rape
Cherry Daniels
2022-04-01 15:50:00 +0000 UTCI found out my close friend was dating a 15 year old when he was 23… and I’m 21 and he’s 29. Literally made me sick, I couldn’t even think of talking with someone a year younger two different paths of life.
Virtualbum
2022-04-01 10:08:33 +0000 UTCEven if your friend said they were going to stop, they couldn't prove that unless you watched them 24/7. People can't change in an instant and you never know if or when they will give it up, especially if they don't have any consequences. I'm sure they can change if they wanted to or if they encountered enough resistance. It's a deal breaker if I knew them when it happened vs. if it was over ten years ago and I didn't know them at the time.
ScarlettStunningSpace
2022-03-31 23:12:50 +0000 UTCHey zach do you ever talk to female predators?
Niamh Hawkins
2022-03-30 11:32:21 +0000 UTCthat must have been really difficult for you to experience, i hope you're okay
bee
2022-03-29 14:25:16 +0000 UTCMy ex boyfriend came out to me years later in details that he's attracted to under age kid's. I honestly forgotten about it as I tried my hardest to forget his existence after his confession. I hope he gets the help needed because that's not right. He told me he liked to be around underage girls preferably 7 or 8 and that he'd molest them and explain to the kids that it's okay but it's not tho.
Tony Kun
2022-03-29 05:21:05 +0000 UTCJust like with serial killers when you interview or speak with them for months or sometimes years on end (for journalistic or other reasons) you can have a friendly relationship. Predators would be totally different in my opinion. Anyone who abuses a child....well there is nothing redeemable about them at all. Great vid. I'm so sad it will be my last temporarily. I will be returning sooner than later... Keep up the amazing work Zach! You are the man!
Sunshine
2022-03-28 00:25:45 +0000 UTCSick
Fentoolzer
2022-03-27 21:46:53 +0000 UTCIt's honestly really interesting what goes through the heads of these guys. I was in the shoes of a victim multiple times from 10-16 or something along those lines. There was this one who I was "dating" for about three years from when I was 13 to 16. The whole time he was acting like a good boyfriend would for the entirety of everything. He never pushed and only let me initiate things for the most part. He even cried to me about the thought of possibly being a pedophile saying he wouldn't do it to anyone else and because I was 13 and he was 22 at the time it was just strange looking back on it. The weirdest thing about it is that I met his parents through video chat (thankfully we lived in different parts of the country hundreds of miles apart) and they were okay with it? The only thing his mom was genuinely concerned with was whether I was actually committed to the relationship or not. Real messed up. Another one I spoke too was really really fucked. He was 28 and I was 12. After a while of completely disgusting chats, my mom ended up calling the police. Nothing came out of it, unfortunately. However, in order to gain some kind of closure, I reached out to him and he had absolutely no remorse for saying all of those things, making me touch myself on cam for him, and showing me his parts. He said he loved it and other disgusting things. This man is a US army vet, a father, and I believe a MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHER!!!! I think he still lives in LA.
KAbre Ket
2022-03-24 17:59:28 +0000 UTCI had a friend who attempted to do this and just got manipulated in the processes. This was back in HS and most of us already said it was a bad idea. Was shut down after a conversation with their parents tho.
chloe g
2022-03-24 01:17:48 +0000 UTCFriend absolutely cut off for sure. I wish I could feel the exact same about family but my instinct would be to help. If it was a family member that was struggling with mental illness and those urges I would want to help them. If they acted on those urges then it would be really different. Well I don’t even want to think about that 😰
Emma Chase
2022-03-23 21:41:12 +0000 UTCMy ex’s father was unconvinced of molesting his cousin and my ex bf (who knows if there were more) and I just couldn’t stand looking or being around him. I was always disgusted. I could never ever ever be around a known pedo and be okay with it. Just can’t.
Tina Vee
2022-03-23 21:23:39 +0000 UTCI’d have to cut the person off. Even if it was family.. even if that act hasn’t happened & it was just a sexually charged conversation, the line has been crossed. Do not mess with children. I don’t believe there is a cure for this type of behavior.
Jordan
2022-03-22 23:05:34 +0000 UTCYea, no.. not going to befriend anyone who hurts children, animals, or people in general.
Robin
2022-03-22 22:14:50 +0000 UTCZach do you find predators in one chat room or more than one chat?
Molly
2022-03-21 21:42:52 +0000 UTCAnd I want to say my dad is a predator he likes talking to little girls in the Philippines and sending them money. he even lies about their ages to me and my sister lately he's been talking to a 18 year old in turkey which age of consent is 18 there.she was 17 when he was talking to her.he would accidentally text my sister the nasty stuff he meant to send to the underage girl anytime anyone tells him it's wrong he gets mad and defensive about it meanwhile hes claiming to be a Christian. Lmao
Melissa lynn
2022-03-21 21:27:22 +0000 UTCI don't have friends to begin with lol
Melissa lynn
2022-03-21 21:06:29 +0000 UTCSo when I was in 5th grade I had two friends that were cousins one day one of them just stopped showing up. So after a week or so I asked my other friend what happened he told me "ya he won't be back probably ever so just drop it." A few months later he was talking about how his family adopted the other guys little brother and I kind of asked again what happened to his cousin and why he wasn't coming back he said "O.K. guess no harm in telling you. Police found he was raping his brother and the father wasn't doing anything about it so the father was either arrested or put in a assisted living home (he was about 75 with no spouse) and the other was put in juvenile hall. A year or two later he tried to call me collect as soon as I heard the name I hung up I did not wanna talk to that piece of shit never heard from him again and all the more happier for it.
Cameron O'Neal
2022-03-21 19:13:44 +0000 UTCHow cool is it to ask a question and get a whole podcast back as an answer. Awesome. The reason I asked the question was indeed because of the Pokémon aspect. You must have used some of your own personality with the character you were using to catfish him. And possibly build up some sympathy for the devil. To answer your follow up question. My mom has always said that pedophiles should be castrated. And then a celebrity who she’s liked for decades was uncovered to have molested children. She said; oh.. well it was probably a girl who was 17 and only just under age. A grey area. Doesn’t make him a pedo. I was stunned!! Just because she liked the guy she was able to ‘reason’ his behavior away! I think these people can be very charming and manipulate most people around them. So much to even have people forgive them for something that terrible.
C
2022-03-21 17:47:44 +0000 UTCAbout 3 years or so ago, I had a couple friends who were dating that I worked with at an LGBT non-profit. I was director of youth services, and my second was the boyfriend. Since we had to plan activities for our youth group, I had invited him over to my place so we could plan and budget and just hang out. I dunno if he felt like we were bros or something, but he brought up the 14 yr old daughter of the groups founder. Started talking to me about her being pretty, which yeah, I agreed with, she was a cute kid and had good fashion sense. Then he got weird and asked me if I thought she was hot. I was like “Uh…no? She’s 14, dude.” And he defended it by just saying some bs about how he meant it just aesthetically and as a compliment to her. After that I had made sure not to let him near my youths, and told the girls mom, who didn’t care because he was a “big brother” figure to her. I eventually resigned from the group to have a surgery, but later found out through his now ex-girlfriend that he had been heavily grooming and molesting that girl, all with the moms approval. Absolutely revolting and I hate that I didn’t do more than assume it was a one off comment. He’s never been charged with anything, but his girlfriend and I are close and we tell pretty much everyone about it so he can’t hide from his sins n shit. I get what you mean about predators putting on these facades of being cool people. I deal with that guilt every day. Makes it even worse that I had a crush on him for a while. 🙄 Thankfully that shriveled up and died the moment he made that comment about the girl. Scares me to think he thought I would be someone to agree with that. Made me reanalyze how I interacted with my youths. I did hugs and high fives, but when I had my hair freshly cut I would also let them rub my stubble. I’d also let them lean on me to rest during a car ride to an event. Started distancing myself and even had a program about boundaries. POINT IS predators are all over the damn place and it’s sometimes hard to sus them out, even when they’re being pretty obvious. I wonder if it was just denial clouding my judgement of that remark, too. Messy stuff.
samphonia
2022-03-21 17:47:04 +0000 UTCI think that one thing about watching predator catching videos, more specifically other peoples, is seeing the person humiliated which can evoke an emotional and sympathetic response from people. You don't parade them around or blackmail them into anything which is why I like your videos but I can see why some people might feel sympathy for the predator who might otherwise be normal in the other aspects of their life. The problem comes with them wanting to manipulate a child into rape and the more I watch your calmer approach, the more I begin to see how sneaky they really are. This predator was a prime example of someone who played it cool, tried not to talk about sex too much (at least from what I saw in your video) but ultimately wanted to rape a minor. Someone might feel like he seems pretty normal everywhere else but his actions here ultimately make him an untrustworthy person in general.
Nate
2022-03-21 17:04:46 +0000 UTCAlso love watching Cinnabon and your brother!
Michelle Kemp
2022-03-21 16:52:23 +0000 UTCInteresting podcast. Wonder how parents of people who commit these crimes feel?
Michelle Kemp
2022-03-21 16:50:07 +0000 UTCI remember 2 years into undergrad, this dude I went to high school with was ousted as being a predator. Looking back, it made sense considering he was dating a freshman as a senior in HS. It's still surreal thinking about it, like you wouldn't think that these types of people could exist in your life in such close proximity lol but c'est la vie.
Slow Loris
2022-03-21 16:00:43 +0000 UTCWould you consider making a Pokerap parody after you catch 151 predators? Hahaha
Slow Loris
2022-03-21 15:28:15 +0000 UTC
