A man who was caught on NBC’s “To Catch A Predator,” a show in which alleged pedophiles are trapped by NBC’s Chris Hansen and a watchdog group, is now suing the network for violating his rights to privacy and causing intentional emotional distress. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a federal judge in California is allowing plaintiff Anurag Tiwari to pursue his suit against the network.
Tiwari, formerly employed with Sun Microsystems as an engineer, was caught on the show in 2006. He was eventually charged with a misdemeanor which was later reduced to a criminal infraction as part of a plea deal. Afterwards, Tiwari sued the network, stating his civil rights had been violated and that he had been subject to defamation and emotional distress.
NBC has claimed their First Amendment rights bar them from the accusations, but U.S. District Court judge Edward Chen has said, “A reasonable jury could find in Mr. Tiwari’s favor based on the allegations in his complaint–e.g., that it was not necessary for law enforcement to wait until after [host Chris] Hansen confronted Mr. Tiwari before arresting him.”
He goes on to say that the jury could also find that it wasn’t necessary for Tiwari to be arrested in a sensational manner and for Tiwari to be put in handcuffs during his detention and police interview. Chen also said that discovering the events were being filmed and recorded could have caused distress.
You can read the full report here. What do you think of the story? Does Tiwari have a case? Give your opinions below.
