Dan Allen

Allen's Riverside mugshot

"*I was just curious.*"
―Dan's "innocent reasoning" to why he showed up to the house.

"*Well, no. It's- well waaait a minute, haha.*"
―Dan stumbling over his words after basically admitting he's visited teens before.
**Daniel "Dan" Joseph Allen** was a predator caught in the Riverside, California investigation of To Catch a Predator. He is notable for his initial nervousness upon being confronted and subsequent tough guy act after realising Chris Hansen isn't a cop.

## Biography

Daniel Joseph Allen was born on March 15, 1957. In the 1980s and 1990s, Allen had relationships with many different women, but none of them lasted very long. He only had a daughter who was in her teen years. He received a year in prison and five years of probation after being found guilty of felony stalking in the middle of the 1990s. Allen drove past the house of his former girlfriend she shared with her young children. He set up a program that kept calling her phone number, compelling her to turn it off, having to go into hiding for months. Between his time in prison and his arrest on Riverside, Allen only saw his daughter once. He picked her up from school in 2003 and attempted to make up for nearly a decade of lost time in an hour.

## Chat

In January of 2006, 49-year-old Allen started an internet chat with a Perverted Justice decoy posing as a thirteen-year-old girl named "Sami." He lied about his age, claiming he was 37. He told the decoy she was not too young for him. Allen then complimented her on her looks, inquired about her romantic relationships, declared his desire for her to be "so bad," instructed her to "sit on Santa's lap," exposed his butt in front of a camera, engaged in masturbation, urinated in a cup, and requested a full-body massage.

He allegedly said he wanted to be her teacher, demanded that she pee on him, make him "big and hard," questioned whether she had pubic hair, and inquired as to the size of her breasts. He kept telling the decoy that he wanted to take her to a motel so they could have sex. In case anyone saw them together, he also told her to claim to be eighteen. As the conversation continued, he became more and more worried, claiming that she was underage and that he might be seen as a predator.

## Confrontation

Allen entered the sting house in a relaxed and joyful mindset. Del Harvey, posing as the teenage girl, talks to Allen from another room. The two share conversation before Chris Hansen enters the room and tells Allen to take a seat. Allen acknowledged that he went to the house to see a girl, but he insisted he wasn't sure of her age. He claimed he was "just curious," and that's why he was at the house. He claimed he didn't bring any booze or condoms. Allen said that he could show that his car was outside. He continued by asserting that "curiosity" was what ultimately got the better of him. Dan Allen then starts to pace and fears Chris is a police officer. Allen asserted that he was unaware that the girl was thirteen-years-old and that he had a sexually explicit conversation with her since it was the norm on the internet. He insisted that he had informed the girl online that he only wanted to meet her because she seemed like a "nice person" and that he was still "curious."

As Chris reads from his chatlog, he professed to have had sexual talks with males or "elderly" women his own age more often than not. Then he added that he "had [his] big doubts" about her being thirteen. After Chris informed him that the girl had told him she was thirteen,  Allen stated he met other people who weren't thirteen and turned out to be 25-year-old guys. Chris tells Allen that while no one is concerned about what consenting adults do online, but when a child is involved, it becomes a problem. Then Allen reiterates that he believes that the person is never thirteen because of a few prior events. Chris queries if this wasn't the first time he had visited others online who claimed to be thirteen years old. Daniel later recants his statement, claiming that he had never met a thirteen-year-old girl in person. He acknowledged that he had attempted to meet a sixteen-year-old, but it had actually been a guy. Chris asked Allen what he did for a living, and he said that he was "basically a programmer," working for himself and buying and selling antiques online in the Philippines. Allen described it as "role-play" while Chris continues to read from the dialogue.

Allen says he questioned the girl if she was "for real," that he didn't need that in his life because he took care of his blind father, and that he didn't want to get in trouble, as he starts to feel more nervous. He reiterates that he would only meet the girl because he thought she was cool. Allen repeated his claim that he didn't think the child was thirteen since he believed she intentionally misspelled words. When Chris read additional sexually explicit quotes, he declared he assumed it was a gay man. If Chris hadn't been there and a real child had been, Allen asserted, he would have spoken to the girl and left. He said he had anticipated running across an older woman. After Chris questioned him in his chatlog about why he was so concerned, he said that he didn't want anyone to know he was involved in cybering. Allen immediately starts blaming the decoy, arguing that she was the one who brought up sex talk first. Chris rejects his excuse.

Allen maintained he "got sucked in almost"  because he didn't want to come but was tempted by the girl.  He added that the girl was becoming angry with him and promised to visit her since she appeared "really cool." Allen said it would be the last time he talked to anyone online without knowing who they really are. When Chris asked what should happen to him, Allen said be wanted to "run home with [his] tail between [his] legs" and explained that he wanted to apologize but couldn't because it was "cyber." After finding out he was a part of a Dateline investigation, Allen threatens to shove the camera down the cameraman’s throat and then tries to talk to Chris in private, presumably to threaten him as well.  Then he corrects Chris, saying that he "has it all wrong," adding that his argument was well made. Chris hands Allen a card and invites him to contact him by phone or email. After saying hi to the cameramen, Allen says, "Cut." Allen is informed by Chris that he has the option of leaving and that he will not be kept there. Allen leaves the house and is arrested by the police.

## Behind the scenes

### Sentence

Allen was originally charged with three felonies: attempted harmful matter sent to seduce a child, attempted oral copulation with a minor under fourteen years of age or by force or fear, and attempted lewd or lascivious acts with a child under fourteen years of age. His bail was set at $50,000. He ended up pleading guilty to attempted lewd or lascivious acts with a child under fourteen years of age on June 24, 2006, and was sentenced to three years in prison and lifetime registration as a sex offender.

### Death and aftermath

After being released in the fall of 2008 in deteriorating health, Allen passed away on January 9th, 2009, at the age of 51 and he was cremated. Chris' podcast "Predators I've Caught" included a young woman named "Daniella" in April 2021 who talked about her father. When the episode aired in March 2006, she and her family recorded it and gathered to watch it together. They were shocked that Allen had been discovered but not shocked by his actions. Although "Daniella" had gone on with her life, she had spent a lot of time researching Allen's case; she had received calls from many others who claimed to have been abused by Allen in some way.

## Trivia

* In the televised episode containing Dan Allen's interview and arrest, he can be seen sitting near Jean Pierre Wehry in the temporary detention area at the sting house.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 https://dairystatedegenerates.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-massage-parlor-predators-trail-of.html
2. ↑ http://www.perverted-justice.com/booking/bookingcollage.html
3. ↑ http://www.perverted-justice.com/?con=trying\_2b\_normal
4. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/251378203/daniel-joseph-allen