"DATELINE'S" CHRIS HANSEN REPORTS ON THIRD HIDDEN CAMERA INVESTIGATION THAT CATCHES MEN WHO APPEAR TO BE TRYING TO MEET CHILDREN ONLINE FOR SEX -- FRIDAY, FEB. 3 AT 9PM

Latest Report To Include Arrest of Potential Predators

Hansen to Participate in Live Blog During Two-Hour Broadcast on MSNBC.com; NBC News to Make Second Online Advertising Buy to Publicize Report

NEW YORK -- January 25, 2006 -- Almost two years ago "Dateline NBC" aired the first in a series of breakthrough investigations exposing a national epidemic: men who target young teenagers online. In two different investigations in two different states, dozens of men showed up at our undercover houses after chatting about sex online and then making a date. On Friday, Feb. 3 (9:00 - 11:00 PM, ET), Chris Hansen reports in his third investigation, and this time around police arrest potential predators caught on camera. In addition, on the same day as NBC News' second online advertising buy, Hansen will participate in a live blog during the two-hour broadcast, offering anecdotes, behind-the-scenes information and answers to viewer questions, available at www.Dateline.MSNBC.com.

Hansen and NBC News set up their hidden camera investigation in a home in a Southern California. Members of a group called Perverted Justice, an Internet watchdog group, pretended to be 12 to 13 year old children chatting online. Within hours, adults solicited the undercover operatives for sex. Some sent graphic sexual images to what they believed were minors. Soon, many of those same men actually show up at the house for a rendezvous with the child. For this third investigation, Perverted Justice set up a plan with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department that after a potential predator is confronted by Hansen and leaves the house, a Perverted Justice volunteer alerts detectives.

Most of the men confronted by Hansen claim their intentions were innocent. Some of the most alarming cases involve seemingly prominent members of the community: an active INS agent, a teacher and a lawyer. The hidden camera investigation exposes 51 men in three days, giving viewers a frightening glimpse at how widespread the problem is.

MSNBC.com will post additional information and a number of resources will be available to viewers. Online security expert, Bob Sullivan, will provide articles on "Kids, blogs and too much information," as well as an entry in his "Red Tape Chronicles" blog answering frequently asked questions about online safety in light of these predator reports. Following the broadcast, Sullivan and a group of other online safety experts, will answer parents' online safety questions.

Also available online will be a number of resources for parents including tips to keep kids and teenagers of different ages safe online, links to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, including their "cyber tip line," a link to the national sex offender registry, and an Internet safety contract for parents and kids to use as a starting point for staying safe online. Video, blog entries and full reports from this and previous predator reports will be available at www.Dateline.MSNBC.com.