Is Race a Factor in Internet Child Predators?

Dateline's popular "To Catch a Predator" series has "exposed" more than one hundred men as internet child predators. Episode after episode, we are seeing men of all ages and many different races solicit children online. These men are showing up at houses across America to engage in sexual activities with people they believe to be adolescent children.

African Americans are stereotyped as being more likely to commit crime. Forty-four percent of the incarcerated population is black, although African Americans only make up twelve percent of the United States population, according to the United States Department of Justice. Knowing this information, it may seem odd to some that Dateline is not catching African American men in their sting operations.

Why then, are we not seeing more black men on the To Catch a Predator series? I have four theories to answer this question. I would love to hear your thoughts as well, so please feel free to leave any thoughts in the comments section below.

First Theory:

Dateline is setting up their sting operations in areas that have an unusually low population of African Americans.

Since the men featured on the program must physically arrive at the location, if the area has an uncharacteristic low percentage of black population, then it would follow that few African Americans would arrive. I have contacted Dateline to question this theory, but have not yet heard back from them.

Second Theory

Perverted Justice Workers Are Only Posing as White Males Or Females.

If the only white male and female adult actors are hired to pose as the adolescent girls and boys, Perverted Justice may only claim to be white when talking online with potential predators. Is it possible that black adults would be more likely to target members of their own race, thus making them less likely to fall into Dateline's "trap?"

Third Theory

Black Men Are Less Likely to Use the Internet for Socializing.