The host of To Catch a Predator, Chris Hansen, was charged on Monday following his arrest for bouncing checks, Us Weekly has reported. Hansen, 59, owed vendor Peter Psichopaidas of Promotional Sales Limited $12,998.05 for his work on coffee mugs, vinyl decals, and other promotional items that Psichopaidas alleged Hansen took his time paying.
Hansen had commissioned Promotional Sales Limited back in 2017 to work on the items, and when Hansen finally cut a check to Psichopaidas, it bounced. They went back and forth for almost a year, and Hansen repeatedly apologized to Psichopaidas and told him that his wife would drop off the check — but she never showed up. The Promotional Sales Limited owner filed a report with the police, but the tv host failed to report to the police station.
“I told Chris that I understood that he may have trouble, but that nearly $13,000 is a lot of money to a ‘mom-and-pop’ business and it is not fair that he accepted the material but hasn’t paid for it,” investigator Sean Coughlin said in an affidavit.
In April of last year, Hansen did send a check for over $13,000 but that one bounced as well, three days later. As Us reported, Hansen wrote the business owner an email, apologizing again and said that he sold a boat to help pay for his debt.
Happy New Year! Home, heart and hearth:) Be well in 2019! pic.twitter.com/SvjLVv3YlR
— Chris Hansen (@chrishansen) January 1, 2019
“Peter … I truly thought I had this covered. I am scrambling to get it done. Please give me till the end of the day. I sold a boat to cover the rest of this and need to pick up the payment this afternoon,” Hansen said in the email. Psichopaidas said that the check never arrived. Hansen turned himself in to police on Monday and was released without bond after signing a written note he would appear in court.
Hansen, who has a lengthy resume as a journalist, reached the height of his career while working as an onsite reporter for NBC during the Columbine massacre. He also covered the Unibomber, the Oklahoma City bombing, and 9/11.
In 2004, Hansen began hosting NBC’s To Catch a Predator , which focused on Hansen and a team of law enforcement officials who went undercover in online chatrooms to get would-be perpetrators to agree to meet up with underaged kids. The series followed Hansen as he met the adults at an agreed destination, which turned out to be a sting house — with most of them showing up with liquor and contraceptives for the minors. After confronting them for the cameras in an attempt to understand why they would show up to meet with a minor, police would step in and make the arrest.
