Sony fires PlayStation VP after he is caught in an online predator sting

A staple of mid-2000s American television culture was the Dateline NBC series To Catch A Predator. Though it and its host Chris Hansen have long since become enshrined in meme form, ensuring its relevancy nearly a decade-and-a-half after its initial run, I’ll give the basic skinny in case there are any uninitiated among you.

The show involved members of a number of online watchdog groups (principally the now-defunct Perverted Justice) who went into internet chat rooms posing as underage children. Playing the role of precocious, experimentally-curious teenagers, these decoys would sit about and wait to be hit on by seedy and lascivious men. After confirming that the individual had sexual intent, the undercover team would arrange for them to visit the ‘child’, ostensibly home alone and willing to go along with whatever sordid acts the predator had discussed online.

Some suspects drove for hours, under the impression they were going to be able to live out their darkest fantasies. In actuality, the men were being directed to a sting house outfitted with dozens of hidden cameras which caught their every move, for a twofold purpose: one, evidence for building a prosecutable case, and two, for the entertainment of viewers at home. Once the predator was in the house, Hansen would emerge, incriminating chatlogs in hand, and instruct the perp to ‘have a seat’, at which point he would unleash what can only be described as comedy gold. In his trademark deadpan, monotone drawl, he would read the men’s revolting chat back to their faces, and audiences would be able to see how they reacted, often attempting to lie their way out of the situation.

Excuses came thick and fast: “I was just on my way to the beach,” “I was just looking for work,” “I just came to get something to eat,” and so on. I can’t overstate how absurd (and shocking) some of the characters that ambled into the various trap houses were, from simple drunken idiots and cartoonish buffoons, to district attorneys and even religious figures.

Inevitably, Hansen would reveal that their wriggling and worming had been all for naught; the camera crew would reveal themselves, and the suspects would flee, right into the arms of the waiting police outside. It was total television magic, and a fascinating watch to this day for anyone interested in crime, psychology and the like (or anyone who just fancies a schadenfreudic chuckle).

So why am I getting you up to speed on this show, of all things? Well, because its format was so popular that it went on to inspire several spiritual successors; some hosted by Hansen himself, some wholly original endeavours. One such imitator, a YouTube channel called People v. Preds, has found success operating in much the same way as Hansen and his team – but until now, they’ve only managed to catch small fry, average Joes who, though they absolutely deserve to be taken off the streets, aren’t exactly headline-makers. I say ‘until now’, because, as CNet reports, they’ve ensnared quite the catch: “a Sony senior vice president who worked on the PlayStation Network.” Have a seat, indeed.

“George Cacioppo was allegedly trying to arrange a meeting with a person claiming to be a 15-year-old boy,” states the report. Cacioppo was a key figure in the development of PSN, as well as having served a stint in the engineering department, working his way up through the company to a role commanding significant respect and, presumably, pay. He had been in this position “for the past eight years, according to his LinkedIn profile,” but it all came crashing down when news of the sting broke.

The operation itself took place last week. Cacioppo, 64 years of age, set up a sexual liaison with a person who said he was a 15-year-old teen on the Grindr app, used for dating and hook-ups in the LGBT community. He had been chatting with him on and off for a chunk of time before making lewd advances towards him; the video shows he did so under the alias ‘Jeff’. This boy was in fact a decoy, a dummy account operated by People v. Preds, and was used to entice Cacioppo into a meeting, To Catch a Predator-style.

At the appointed time, a representative for the YouTube channel travelled to Cacioppo’s house and confronted him with a hidden camera. The man, realising he was being taped, quickly ducked back inside, but not before the cameraman was able to get a good, clear shot of his face. When the sting was finally uploaded onto the ‘net, Sony released a statement to enquirers via email: “We are aware of the situation and the employee in question has been terminated from employment.”

It never ceases to amaze me how outwardly, someone can seem to be so totally normal – have a life, respect, a successful career – but then turn out to have a secret dark side where they’re trawling around online becoming involved in illegal activity. We’ve seen it time and time again in the entertainment industry, including earlier this year with the Activision scandal, and it makes one wonder when, or indeed if, it will all end.

In all sincerity, this exposure is staggering and prompts serious thought about the calibre of the rest of the company’s upper echelons. Whether Sony will respond in any further public capacity beyond his termination remains to be seen, but it should certainly give them pause. Individuals in positions of authority who behave in this way deserve nothing less than immediate ousting, in this journalist’s humble opinion, so it is at least a positive step they’ve taken. And there is a degree of Hansen-esque catharsis to the whole ordeal, of course.

What is your opinion on this revelation? Would you like to see us cover slightly more serious subject matter like this more often? Let us know!

Via, CNet.