Michael Seibert

> "Ewps"
> - Seibert's stunned reaction upon Chris Hansen’s arrival during the two stings he was caught in.
>
>

## Physical description

### Hair Color

Brown

**Michael Jason Seibert** is a predator featured on the Riverside and Long Beach investigations of the **To Catch a Predator** series. Seibert is notable for being one of the only predators in the series to be caught twice, the other being John Kennelly. He is also noted for his distinctive voice, which caused him to pronounce certain words (most notably 'oops') in a strange way ("ewps").

## First encounter

Before getting caught in the sting, Michael Seibert was arrested and sentenced to a year in jail after assaulting a man with a baseball bat. In December 2005, 25-year-old Seibert made contact with a Perverted Justice decoy posing as a 13-year-old girl. He immediately inquired about the decoy's development of breasts. Also, he questioned if she ever masturbated or shaved her vagina. He kept asking her whether she wanted to meet with him and whether she wanted to have sex with him. Then Seibert sent a photo of his penis to the decoy. After that, he worriedly solicited her bra size and said he would go to jail if her parents found out they were having sex. But as soon as he said that he wanted to have anal sex with her, all of his worries were quickly forgotten. Seibert promised to bring a condom and asked the decoy to engage in oral sex with him. Seibert continued to tell the decoy he was masturbating and kept asking for sex for the remainder of the chat.

Eventually, Seibert arrived at the designated location and immediately headed for the decoy, asking to use the bathroom. Chris Hansen then came out to greet him. Seibert was told to sit down after being startled by Hansen's appearance. Seibert was made to listen to his chatlog after taking a seat. When asked about his age, Seibert lied and claimed to be 18 years old. Seibert revealed his age of 25 after Hansen told him to tell the truth. Seibert claimed he was only at the house to speak with the girl. Eventually, Hansen put a photograph of Seibert's genitals onto the table. Seibert could only remark, "Oops", in response to the overwhelming evidence against him. Ultimately, Seibert assured Hansen that he was "never going to do it again." For unknown reasons, possibly due to Michael clearly having some kind of mental disability or another suspect scheduled to come in shortly, Hansen does not reveal his involvement with Dateline and does not have the cameras revealed. Instead, he informed Seibert that he was free to leave the sting house. Seibert left the sting house and was taken into custody.

### Arrest

During his police interview, Seibert admitted that he had treatment for seizures and that the scar on his head was induced by a fall when he was a newborn. Seibert was originally charged with four felonies: attempted lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age, attempted sodomy with a minor under 14 years of age, attempted harmful matter sent with the intent of seduction of a minor, and attempted oral copulation with a minor under 14 years of age and more than a 10 year age difference between victim and offender. He was initially held without bail.

## Second encounter

While Seibert was charged in connection with the Riverside investigation, he was eventually released on bail. Eight months later, while awaiting the outcome of his initial charge, he attempted to commit the same crime with a girl he thought was thirteen, even using the same screen name he was caught using before. He then asked the decoy if she shaved her genitals. He admitted to being caught in the Riverside sting and stated that he did not want to be caught again. He kept asking if she was a cop. Seibert then asked if she wanted to perform oral sex on him and if she had a best friend who wanted a threesome. He stated once more that he desired to have anal sex with the decoy.

As soon as Seibert entered the house after inquiring whether or not anyone else was home, Hansen came out and quipped how Michael looked familiar, to which he replied with his signature, "oops." Seibert requested permission to leave from Hansen. He apologized and admitted that he had just been in court the day before and had been given more time before the next court date. Seibert then began to become nervous and rubbed his eyes. He claimed he told the girl to leave him alone, but she kept messaging him. Seibert promised Hansen he would never do it again if he ripped up the chatlog. When questioned about his assault conviction, Seibert admitted to using a bat. This time, Hansen revealed that he worked for Dateline, prompting the cameras to come out. Seibert was hesitant to leave, knowing what was out the door. Like before in Riverside, he claimed he needed to use the restroom. He eventually left the house and was immediately arrested.

## Aftermath

After being arrested again, the court set Seibert's bail at $1.1 million dollars. Long Beach Superior Court Judge Bradford Andrews usually gave the predators caught in the Long Beach sting lenient sentences due to thinking they were "lonely, desperate people who took their fantasies too far." However, Judge Andrews noted that Seibert would anticipate facing far harsher punishments than the other predators arrested since any past sex offenses immediately revoke the possibility of making a plea deal with prosecutors. Steve Harmon, the attorney representing Seibert, opined in an interview that he found it "very disturbing" that Perverted Justice was on the internet "trolling or fishing" for men who wouldn't have had the "intention to get into this trouble" but were "led into it." Harmon added that Seibert had suffered from "very severe mental issues" due to a brain injury he had when he was a baby.

In 2008, Seibert was convicted and found guilty of felony attempted lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age and felony attempted harmful matter sent with the intent of seduction of a minor. Seibert could have faced a sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison for the numerous crimes he committed, but he was first instead sentenced to three and a half years in prison for his involvement in the Long Beach sting. Following that, he was sentenced to a year and a half in prison for his involvement in the Riverside sting to be served concurrently with his previous sentence. After his release, Seibert was put on probation and was required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. He also moved back in with his parents, and very little is known about his life post-Dateline.

## 2021 Update

In 2021, YouTuber The Skip Tracer tracked down and contacted a number belonging to Seibert's father, Charles. According to Seibert's father, his son had been in the hospital for the last four weeks after undergoing massive surgery, although the reason was not stated. The Skip Tracer offered to call back in a couple of weeks to speak with him, but the elder Seibert inquired who the Skip Tracer was "with." The Skip Tracer emphasized he wasn't a journalist, but still told Seibert's father he was doing a follow-up investigation on the *To Catch a Predator* sting, and was wondering if his son had anything to say regarding what he's been up to or how he felt about the sting. While Seibert's father sounded noticeably exasperated, the Skip Tracer asked if *he* had anything to say about whether or not Michael had been doing good since the sting, to which Seibert's father replied that he had "no comment at the moment." The Skip Tracer took this as a hint to not call again and wished his son well before hanging up.

## Gallery

An undated RSO mugshot of MichaelMichael's 2020 RSO mugshotSibert's most recent RSO mugshot
## References

1. ↑ http://www.perverted-justice.com/booking/bookingcollage.html
2. ↑ https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1725061/posts
3. ↑ https://www.presstelegram.com/2007/02/03/sex-predators-or-just-inept/
4. ↑ https://www.denverpost.com/2006/10/11/website-watchdogs-stings-to-capture-molesters-criticized/
5. ↑ https://meganslaw.ca.gov/OffenderDisplay.aspx?searchby=offender&ID=18607284L6388&NSOPRFlag=True&x=f4fdf2ff-d6f8-4b1c-aa84-d6dc9cc93706
6. ↑ http://www.perverted-justice.com/?con=bud448002
7. ↑ http://www.perverted-justice.com/?con=budd44800
8. ↑ https://dairystatedegenerates.blogspot.com/2021/02/to-catch-predator-update-long-beach.html
9. ↑ https://dairystatedegenerates.blogspot.com/2020/10/to-catch-predator-update-riverside-part.html