Photo By Staff Sgt. Jaccob Hearn | Chris Chris Hansen, made famous by his 2004 Dateline NBC series To Catch A Predator,...... read more read more
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Hearing the iconic introduction “Hi, I’m Chris Hansen” has been the beginning of the end for many alleged child predators and human traffickers around the country for the last two decades. Hansen, made famous by his 2004 Dateline NBC series To Catch A Predator, has worked with law enforcement agencies all over the country and, usually, those who come face to face with him wouldn’t want to brag about the encounter.
However, those training to become military police (MP) Soldiers at Ft. McClellan are a rare few who will get to brag about their meeting with Hansen after a visit organized by cadre at the school house, April 9th, 2025.
“This was just a really great opportunity for them to get to speak with somebody who’s been involved in law enforcement for so long and a side of it that’s not really talked about often,” said Sgt. 1st Class Mark Moon, a senior instructor with the 1st Military Police (MP) 200th Regiment (Regt.).
Moon, in his civilian job as the Sheriff of Blount County, Ala. has worked with Hansen on several predator stings over the last year. He felt that meeting and speaking to Hansen would be a powerful reminder to the future MPs what they may have to deal with as military law enforcement officers.
During Hansen’s visit, he met with the trainees and cadre, took questions and photos, signed autographs, and spoke about the adoration he has for military service members and anyone who puts on a uniform in service to their community or nation.
“I think it’s important to come down and talk to groups like this to pay respect for what they do every day for our county,” Hansen said. “Every time I speak to a group I get something out of it and I think I get more out of it than the folks whom I speak to, so this is important to me.”
Staff Sgt. Aaron Bogdanovich, originally an infantryman who is now retraining to become an MP with the 128th MP Company in Huntsville, said it was surreal meeting a celebrity and felt the visit was a well-deserved break from the classroom and training.
The visit wasn’t entirely social as the Soldiers and Hansen spoke candidly about the reality of human trafficking in America and the ongoing threat of child predators still prevalent in online spaces today. Hansen also answered questions about his work and gave his unique insight into the minds and outlooks of the alleged child predators and human traffickers caught in his sting operations over the years.
“Chris obviously cares about this,” said Bogdanovich. “He’s dedicated a good chunk of his professional career to it. It’s encouraging to see that there are individuals outside of law enforcement are dedicated to fighting this.”
Hansen warned that over the years it hasn’t slowed down and they still have large numbers of men from all walks of life, who end up in his and law enforcement partners’ predator investigations.
“I think the takeaway of what we do with our takedown investigations is to be proactive and the law enforcement partners with which we work are proactive,” said Hansen. “They want to send a message to their community that ‘we’re not going to stand this behavior anymore’ and I think there’s a lot of applications for that attitude in the military.”
Bogdanovich, who works in civilian law enforcement outside of the Guard, said talking to Hansen was an eye opener for him and the other trainees.
“It’s these particular types of crimes, especially sexual crimes towards minors that no one wants to talk about because it’s dirty and awkward but it’s real life, it’s happening everywhere and we need to deal with it,” said Bogdanovich
“We want the best training for the Soldiers who choose to transition out of their former occupation here,” said Moon. “Bringing a celebrity like Chris in might not be something typical done but I’m confident that all of our MPs here learned something valuable.”
| Date Taken: | 04.09.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.10.2025 19:08 |
| Story ID: | 495061 |
| Location: | ANNISTON, ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 596 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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