‘To Catch a Predator’ spinoff films in DeKalb; 2 men arrested

Chris Hansen filmed an episode of "To Catch a Predator" in DeKalb County.

Credit: Joshua Sharpe

Credit: Joshua Sharpe

Chris Hansen filmed an episode of "To Catch a Predator" in DeKalb County.

After allegedly arranging to meet a minor for sex, two men walked into a filming of a spinoff of the TV show “To Catch a Predator” in DeKalb County.

The show filmed last Wednesday in the Stonecrest area, according to police records released Friday, and was assisted by DeKalb police.

Jermaine Jackson Howard, 43, of Decatur, and Federeco Mendez, 45, of Conyers, face sex trafficking charges after showing up to a hotel, police said.

In Howard’s case, he is accused of trying to pay $100 to an undercover office posing as a 15-year-old. Without prompting, he took off his clothes and was naked when host Chris Hansen walked in, a police report said.

Hansen asked if he knew he was meeting a child.

“I don’t care if she was 15 or 61,” Howard allegedly yelled before becoming “aggressive” and saying he did think he was meeting a minor but didn’t care.

Mendez brought $80, hugged the undercover officer and squeezed her buttocks while trying to kiss her, the police report alleges.

Mendez told Hansen he was just coming to hang out. Speaking with a detective, Mendez “attempted to act as though he knew little to no English,” the report said.

Police said the text messages he’d sent showed he had a handle on the language.

Howard is out on $20,000 bond, jail records show. Mendez remains held on the same amount.

The report said the show was “To Catch a Predator,” but that actually ended in 2007. Hansen’s new show is called "Hansen vs. Predator.”

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