Expensive home rich with potential predators

As police take the former firefighter into custody, word comes over the radio that another suspect is on the way.

Mitchell: Forest green pickup right there. Everybody disappear.

Everyone tries to quickly clear the area but it's too late: the man in the pickup truck spots the police activity and takes off.

Cop: As I walked around, he looked dead at me and took off.

Howard Thornton, 27, is pulled over down the road and arrested, never getting a chance to keep his date for sex with a girl who told him she was 12.

Mitchell: I see him, I see him, right in front of the house.

Our next visitor is here for a 13-year-old and he says this isn't his first time meeting a minor.

(Hidden camera)
Decoy: Come take a seat.

Meet 32-year-old James Marcott, a printing press operator. 

Decoy: So what did you want to do?

Online using the screen name “jdmar74” he makes plans to meet a girl who says she's 13 and home alone. The decoy repeatedly asks him what he wants to do when he gets here. At first he's coy but finally says...

(Chat transcript)
jdmar74: have you had sex before
Decoy: yes
Decoy: with my last bf
jdmar74: we would do that too

When the decoy asks him if he's ever been with someone her age he says 15 was the youngest. Now he's driven an hour-and-a-half to meet her.

Decoy: So did you bring the condoms?                       

Marcott: Yes.                       

Decoy: Did you?                       

Marcott: Yes, I did.                       

Decoy: Aright, cool. Remember you said about that 15-year-old you had sex with?

Marcott: Uh-huh (affirm).

Decoy: Was she a virgin?

Marcott: No.

Decoy: No she wasn't.

Then the decoy tries to find out what he has in mind for them.

Decoy: Do you want to, can you describe to me a little bit what we're going to do so I can know beforehand.

Marcott: A lot of kissing, caressing (laughs).

But a wet blanket is about to be thrown on those plans. 

Chris Hansen: Hey, how are you?

Marcott: Aright.

Hansen: What's happening?

Marcott: Good.

Hansen: You're good?

Marcott: Yeah.

Hansen: What are you up to?

Marcott: Just sitting here relaxing.

Hansen: Relaxing?

Marcott: Relaxing, having a chat.

Hansen: Yeah?  I think you already had a chat earlier today online, didn't you?

Marcott: A little bit.

The 32-year-old admits he was chatting online with a girl named Michelle.

Hansen: And how old is Michelle?

Marcott: As far as I know, she is 18.

Hansen: In her profile it said 13.  She tells you right in the chat it's 13.

Hansen: Now, in the chat, you also tell her that you had sex with a 15-year-old girl.

Marcott: Yes.

Hansen: Yes.  That's true, right?

Marcott: No.

Hansen: You just told her again right here on the beach.

Marcott: That's true. But I have not had sex with a 15-year-old.

But he does admit to chatting online with minors.

Marcott: I've chatted with a few of them.  Some of them talk to me about any problems they have.        

Hansen: You talk about sex with them?

Marcott: Sometimes.

Hansen: You ever go visit one of them?

Marcott: I have visited one.

Hansen: And how old was the one you visited?

Marcott: She was 16. She was in Pennsylvania.

He denies he ever had sex with her.

Hansen: Well, do you watch much TV, James?

Marcott: A little bit.

Hansen: I'm Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC and we're doing a story called "To Catch a Predator."

Marcott: Oh.

Hansen: On adults who try to meet young teens online for sex.

Marcott: Uh-huh (affirm).

Hansen: Now, if there's anything you wanna tell us.

Marcott: Oh, no.  That's quite aright.

As he gets up to leave, officers who've been hiding near the house move towards him and place him under arrest.

Cop: Police. Get on the ground. Get on the ground. Get on the ground.

As our investigation in Ocean County, N.J., continues, all the men who come to our undercover house are expecting to meet a young girl, except this next man. He's been chatting online with a decoy posing as a boy.   

Mitchell:  He's right here.

He's 46-year-old Anthony Palumbo and he's brought a gift. We've hired an 18-year-old actor to play the part of the young teen.

Decoy:  Hey come on in.

Palumbo: Here's your beer.  You give good directions.

Online in an AOL gay chat room calling himself “hi buddy waz sup,” he tells the decoy who's pretending to be a 14-year-old boy that he's horny. Then the 46-year-old says:

Hi buddy waz sup: I WANNA BE TOP
Decoy: oh ok
Hi buddy waz sup: U WANT DO IT RAW
Decoy: raw?
Hi buddy waz sup: YES
Decoy: whats that
Hi buddy waz sup: NO RUBER

Now he's here, beer in hand, asking the decoy several times to put it in the refrigerator.

Palumbo: If you could put that in the fridge.

Decoy: Yeah. I'll put it in in a little bit.

Male Voice: All right. I'll relax.

Decoy: I'm just a little nervous, that's all.

Palumbo: I'm nervous, too. My excuse to come here, I went to Atlantic City. 

Decoy: I just, I don't know what do you want to do.

Palumbo: Put that in the refrigerator. I don't know, we'll just chill out.

Decoy: That's it?

Palumbo: All right.  We'll see what happens.

Decoy: I'm just-- I'm just nervous, you know.

Palumbo: That's all right.  I-- you could put that in the refrigerator at any time.

Decoy: Yeah.  Don't even-- don't worry about it.

Palumbo: Don't get drunk with that (laughter).

Decoy: I won't.

Palumbo: All right.

Hansen: So, why did you need the cover story to go to Atlantic City?

Palumbo: I'll see my brother.

Hansen: But who did you have to give that to as a cover story?

Palumbo: No, I, my brother is home, my other brother.

Hansen: Right.

Palumbo: And I said to her, I got to go to Atlantic City. 

Hansen: So instead you came here.

Palumbo: I stopped by to go there.

Hansen: So you like to gamble?

Palumbo: Yeah.  I love to gamble.

Hansen: You took a little bit of a gamble coming in here tonight.

Palumbo: No, I just stopped by.

Hansen: But you said you were nervous when in.  Why were you so nervous?

Palumbo: Yeah, because I was going to Atlantic City.  And it was dark. And I'm not usually a driver at dark, at night time.

Hansen: So the night time makes you nervous.

Palumbo: Yeah, driving. I'm not a driver at night.

Hansen: What about visiting a boy who is home alone? Does that make you nervous?

Palumbo: Well, yeah.

Hansen: Yeah. A little bit.

Palumbo: I just wanted to say hi. It was nothing that, you know.

Hansen: Say hi and drop off a package.

Palumbo: Yeah.  I had beer.

Hansen: Have you been drinking tonight?

Palumbo: No, not at all.  You can smell my breath.  Not at all.

Hansen: That's okay.

He tells me several times he thought the boy was 18. But in the chat log the decoy tells him two different times that's he's 14.

Hansen: How old are you?

Palumbo: 39.

Hansen: 39. You said you were 35 on line.

Palumbo: 35. 39.

We find out later, he's actually 46! He says he's unemployed and spends his time caring for his ailing mother. Then he tries to explain away his graphic sexual chat.

Hansen: You asked him in your chat if he was top or bottom.  What does that mean?

Palumbo: Did I ask? I don't remember though.

Hansen: Are you top or bottom?

Hansen: I'm horny, you said.

Palumbo: I was just fooling around.

Hansen: Well, if you're just fooling around, why were you so concerned about knowing whether or not he was a cop?

Palumbo: Just joking.

Hansen: Just joking.

Palumbo: Uh-huh (affirmative).

Hansen: So, what made you decide to come over here and meet a teenaged boy after this sexually explicit conversation?

Palumbo: I thought, I thought it was, like I wanted to hang out with someone, like a friend. Like I thought he was like 18, something like that.

Palumbo: I'm not gay or anything.  I'm just saying.

Hansen: Well, this isn't about gay or straight.

Palumbo: No, I'm just saying. I'm straight. 

Hansen: Nobody cares what adults do. But when you involve somebody who's 14, that's when it becomes an issue.

Palumbo: I thought he was 18.

Hansen: How old are you, you ask. “Fourteen. I told you that already.” You say “K,” meaning okay.

Palumbo: I wasn't going to do anything.

Hansen: But why do that?

Palumbo: No, you're right.  No, you're right.  It's, it was stupid.  It was stupid.

Hansen: No, it's an illegal thing.

Palumbo: Yeah, I know. I did a stupid thing.

Hansen: Do you ever watch much television?

Palumbo: Sometimes, once in awhile, I'm not much of a TV person

Hansen: Well, I'm Chris Hansen and I work for Dateline NBC. We're doing a story on adults who try to meet kids online.

Palumbo: Oh, boy.

Hansen: Now, if there's everything else you wanted to say to me.

Palumbo: Oh, boy. I wouldn't want to be on. Oh, boy.

Hansen: You can walk right out of the door you came in.

Palumbo: Okay.

He quickly leaves the house and is startled by the police.

Police: Police!  Get down!

Police: Let's go.

Coming up next, a man shows up in a stolen van.

Frag: He pulled off, he pulled off it looks like.

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