Series solves Epstein fixation

PREDATORS: EXCELLENT WEDGE TO SAY THERE'S AN US AND A THEM, SAYS DIRECTOR

- 

As demands to release the Jeffrey Epstein files rage on, a new documentary asks why America is so fascinated with child sex abusers by reflecting on the salacious 2000s reality TV series To Catch A Predator.

The infamous NBC show lured paedophiles to homes equipped with hidden cameras, where they expected to have sex with minors but were instead confronted by the programme's host and then arrested by cops.

"It was this incredible mix of schadenfreude and horror. No-one had ever seen anything like it before," film director David Osit said.

Framed as investigative journalism but presented as darkly humorous entertainment, To Catch A Predator ran for just 20 episodes. It was cancelled in 2008, soon after one target killed himself as police and cameras entered his home.

Few criminal charges ever resulted, due to the legally dubious entrapment involved.