More behind-the-scenes in Flagler Beach, Fla.
This was Tuesday's live blog. These posts were meant to coincide with the broadcast.
by Chris Hansen, Dateline correspondent
8:03 p.m.
Usually when two potential predators arrive at close to the same time, I try to move quickly through the first interview so that we are ready for the second. But here in Flagler Beach, you’re about to see something I’ve not done before. Two men show up so close to each other I have no choice but to conduct the interviews at the same time. Watch as I introduce the two men to each other and see if you can figure out which one has seen our previous Dateline investigations.
8:15 p.m.
This being our 10th investigation, we figure that some of the men, perhaps even the majority of them here have seen our previous shows and maybe anxious about actually walking into a house. So we are prepared when the men set up a second meeting location across the street at the beach. The police are under the boardwalk and hidden cameras are set up in and around a beached sailboat. In a moment you’ll see how it all works out.
8:34 p.m.
Sometimes Perverted-Justice decoys talk online with potential predators for weeks about a sexual liaison -- and still the man never shows up. You’re about to meet a guy who we thought was going to do just that: 41-year-old Todd Spikes engaged in an explicit online chat with a decoy posing as a 13-year-old girl. His intent seems pretty clear as much of his chat is unfit to print or put on TV. It’s Sunday night and we worked very late the night before. The whole team is beat. I ask Frag of Perverted Justice if he thinks Spikes is going to show up. Frag says Spikes hasn’t communicated with the decoy for hours. We decide he’s probably a no-show and break down for the night. Man, were we wrong.
8:51 p.m.
Minutes after we arrive at the hotel, the decoy gets a call. It’s Spikes and he’s in Flagler beach after what we figure is more than a 5-hour drive from his home in northern Florida. It turns our Spikes is a cop from a small town in southern Alabama. In spite of having three cell phones in his car, he uses a pay phone to call. There’s no way to get everybody in position back in the house and it turns out that may have been a good thing. The police pull him over. Wait until you see what he had stashed in his car: 800 rounds of ammo, an assault rifle, three bullet proof vests and camera equipment. He also had a pistol in his pocket. In a moment you’ll see what he has to say for himself.
8:55 p.m.
You've heard a lot from these men in their own words--- next week, I'll let you know what I was thinking while all this was happening in my own words. We’ll answer some of your e-mails and blog posts, and we'll tell you who's been convicted and how long they'll be behind bars.
Click here to read a transcript of the show and to watch the show online.
