http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/06/26/dateline.predator.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

*NEW YORK (AP)* -- NBC Universal has settled a $105 million lawsuit brought
by a woman who claimed a televised sex sting by "Dateline NBC: To Catch A
Predator" drove her brother to kill himself.

"The matter has been amicably resolved to the satisfaction of both parties,"
said a statement released by both sides. Terms of the agreement were not
disclosed.

Patricia Conradt's lawsuit had claimed her brother, a suburban Dallas
prosecutor, fatally shot himself after he was accused of engaging in a
sexually explicit online chat with an adult posing as a 13-year-old boy.

The lawsuit claimed NBC "steamrolled" authorities to arrest Louis William
Conradt Jr. after telling police he failed to show up at a sting operation
35 miles away.

*NBC* <http://topics.cnn.com/topics/nbc_universal_inc> was working with the
activist group Perverted Justice on the sting, in which people impersonating
children established online chats with men and tried to lure them to a
house, where they were met by TV cameras and police.

In February, a federal judge issued a scathing ruling in the case, saying a
jury might conclude the network "crossed the line from responsible
journalism to irresponsible and reckless intrusion into law enforcement."

U.S. District Judge Denny Chin said the lawsuit contained sufficient facts
to make it plausible that the suicide was foreseeable, that police had a
duty to protect Conradt from killing himself and that the officers and NBC
acted with deliberate indifference.

New episodes of "To Catch A Predator" ended in December, with the future of
the series uncertain.

"Right now we are working on other investigative stories focusing on
national security and the economy," NBC spokeswoman Jenny Tartikoff said
Wednesday in an e-mail. "If we do more, we want to make sure we are
complementing past investigations not just repeating them."

It will be interesting to see if they attempt to revive the show after taking a big financial hit. If the purpose was public service I can imagine they would make an effort, but my guess is we will see this was all about the big bucks from the get-go.

Much love,
larry