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‘To Catch a Predator’ host Chris Hansen arrested — for bouncing checks, CT police say

By Lisa Gutierrez

January 16, 2019 05:20 PM

This booking photograph released Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019, by the Stamford, Conn., Police Department shows Chris Hansen, former host of the television program “To Catch a Predator,” arrested Monday in his hometown of Stamford, on charges he he wrote bad checks for $13,000 worth of marketing materials. (Stamford Police Department via AP)
This booking photograph released Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019, by the Stamford, Conn., Police Department shows Chris Hansen, former host of the television program “To Catch a Predator,” arrested Monday in his hometown of Stamford, on charges he he wrote bad checks for $13,000 worth of marketing materials. (Stamford Police Department via AP) AP
This booking photograph released Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019, by the Stamford, Conn., Police Department shows Chris Hansen, former host of the television program “To Catch a Predator,” arrested Monday in his hometown of Stamford, on charges he he wrote bad checks for $13,000 worth of marketing materials. (Stamford Police Department via AP) AP

Chris Hansen, the former host of NBC’s hidden-camera investigation show, “To Catch a Predator,” has a mugshot of his own this week.

Hansen, who lives in Shippan, Connecticut, was charged Monday with writing a bad check and “failing to pay for $13,000 worth of marketing materials he received from a local vendor,” the Greenwich Time reports.

Police in Stamford, Connecticut told People that in 2017 Hansen ordered T-shirts, coffee mugs, decals and other promotional items to use in marketing events.

“According to police, Hansen was given a bill totaling just under $13,000 and agreed to pay for the items in full before they were delivered, but the check he issued nearly three months after receiving an invoice bounced,” People wrote.

Hansen did not immediately return a call from People seeking comment on Tuesday.. He did not respond to the Greenwich newspaper, either.

The Time reviewed the four-page arrest affidavit that described how Hansen asked Peter Psichopaidas of Promotional Sales Limited for “355 ceramic mugs, 288 T-shirts and 650 vinyl decals.”

Psichopaidas told police Hansen “agreed to pay the entire bill before delivery.” the newspaper wrote.

“Three months after receiving invoices for the goods in September 2017, a person working for Hansen sent a Hansen News LLC check for the entire amount,” according to police, the Time wrote.

When the check bounced, Hansen apologized to the business owner and tried to make a partial payment, but when he wasn’t paid Psichopaidas filed a complaint with the police last spring, the newspaper reported.

After back-and-forth communication between Hansen, the business owner and police, with nothing resolved, investigator Sean Coughlin warned Hansen he was flirting with a felony, the newspaper reports. An arrest warrant was issued after a second check from Hansen, for $13,200, bounced, according to the affidavit.

People reports that Hansen turned himself in to police on Monday and was charged with a class D felony. He was released without bond and signed a promise to appear in court, the magazine reports.

On “To Catch a Predator,” segments featured on NBC’s news magazine, “Dateline NBC,” Hansen and his crew used hidden-camera techniques to catch sexual predators. The series ran from 2004 to 2007, according to IMDB.

“The fanbase is loyal for a few reasons,” Hansen once said about the show, according to E! News. “One, who doesn’t want to go after child predators? Two, it’s compelling television. Three, it takes you into a world you wouldn’t normally see.”

The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force was developed federally in 1998 as the number of children and teenagers using the internet increased and child sexual abuse images became available electronically, authorities say.

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