Denis Coulson

> "You don't have to call me Scooby Doo. You can call me Denis Coulson."
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> -Denis passive aggressively responding to Chris Hansen talking to him as if his screen name was his real name.
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## Physical description

### Hair Color

Brown

**Denis Joseph Coulson** is a suspected predator involved in the Fortson, Georgia edition of **To Catch a Predator**. He is best known for his screen name "scoobydooatl01".

## Biography

Denis, a 23 year old electrician at the time of the sting, began chatting with a girl he believed to be fifteen years old named "Izzy". Even upon knowing the girl's age, he expresses his desires to have sexual contact with girl, saying things like, "id be all over u like white on rice**"** if he were younger and continuously complimenting the girl on her looks. He also keeps trying to dig into her sexual life, trying to find out about her former boyfriends and her sexual experience. He promises her that if they have sex that she will learn new tricks because he switches positions a lot and also introduces the possibility of having anal sex. After chatting for four days, Coulson and the decoy make a date to meet at the sting house.

## Confrontation

Denis travels 90 minutes from Atlanta to get to the sting house in Fortson. When Emily Bicks, the decoy posing as the teenage girl. criticizes how long it took him to show up, he responds by criticizing her for offering bad directions. Denis compliments the Rasta design of the curtains as she hides behind them to "get clothes out of the drier," bringing out Chris Hansen from the very same curtains. Denis asks Chris right away who he is. Asking why he drove such a long distance, Denis said he did it out of boredom and just wanted to hang out. He confesses having discussed matters with graphic sexual content, such as asking the girl if she was a virgin.

After that, Denis apologizes and says he wouldn't have had sex with the girl. When Chris questioned if he had any condoms, Denis also admits to having some in the car. After Denis says he has them for "safety purposes," Chris questions if they were used for airbags in the car in case he got into an accident. Denis explains angrily it was for him to utilize if he came across a girl he wanted to have sex with. Chris starts to read parts of from Denis' chatlogs, causing him to get agitated. Denis begins to pace the kitchen while referring to himself as a "idiot" and "dumb." Chris continues to read from the chatlog as Denis begs him to stop. Chris disregards him and carries on reading. When Chris revealed he is working for Dateline NBC, Denis called himself a "stupid man" and reiterated his assertion that he wasn't intending to have sex with the girl

## Arrest and aftermath

Denis is arrested by the police after leaving the house. As he is being brought into custody, he sobs and begs not to be jailed. When the police check his car, they discover marijuana, condoms, and directions to the sting home. Denis maintains a cheerful though concerned demeanor while being processed. Denis laughs that he used his "get out of jail free card" while he waits to be questioned. Denis is shown a copy of the detective's chat log when he is brought in for questioning. Denis acknowledges that he should not have spoken to a child in such a way. After the police questioned him about why he kept having a sexual chat with the girl, he described himself as "retarded" and claimed to be "bored as shit." The interview is then ended by Denis. He looks at the cameraman, saying that he knew they were laughing at him for getting caught. Denis looks at camera while getting his fingerprints taken and says, "Hey kids, don't fuck up! It's a bad idea." When Denis changes into his black and white striped prison scrubs, he exclaims "Hamburger Helper Man!" It is likely that Denis meant to say "Hamburglar," as Hamburger Helper Man does not wear any striped clothing, while the Hamburglar does.

Stephen Hyles, the defense lawyer for Denis, claimed that his client got numerous unwanted phone calls and online communications that made him want to go to Harris County and meet Chris Hansen. According to Hyles, Perverted Justice had a financial motive to recruit such men for a sting. Denis made a feeble attempt at suicide after taking a lot of sleeping medications later on during his trial. However, he managed to survive. Denis was found guilty on criminal attempt to commit child molestation, criminal attempt to commit sodomy, and possession of marijuana. He was sentenced to ten years in prison with a minimum of four years to serve, six years of probation, and lifetime registration as sex offender. Denis was paroled and released from prison on April 29, 2009.

## Quotes

* "Yeah well, somebody can't give good directions for where they live" (Denis throwing shade at the supposed child for not giving decent directions)
* "Oh god I'm an idiot, fucking idiot"
* "Aughhh god stop okay, I understand what you're saying!" (while Hansen reads Denis's words back at him)
* "No please don't take me to jail! Please don't take me to jail! Please god don't take me to jail!" (once the cops tackle him)
* "Can you just shoot me?"
* "Sup man, how you doing? Doing pretty good? Can't talk, huh? You're sitting there with a straight face, must be hard sometimes. Filming people in this fucked up situation, yeah, you wanna laugh. You gotta get a little giggle off sometimes. I know you're just sitting there laughing, it's alright." (Denis's Emmy-winning monologue toward the cameraman while getting booked)
* "Hey kids, don't fuck up. \*laughs\* It's a bad idea." (while getting fingerprinted)
* "Hamburger Hel-helper Man!" (Denis after putting on his prison stripes, mistaking the Hamburglar as Hamburger Helper Man)

## Trivia/Post-Predator Activities

* Denis Coulson shares the same first and last name with an Irish rugby union player.
* A false rumor spread that Coulson made a video in 2020 complaining about his inability to get "the one" girl he wants in his life, mentioning that he is still a virgin at 37 years old. While the likeness is eerily striking and the ages would match up, this is not Denis in the video, rather a man named Jason Lundgren.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/local/article28992607.html
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.perverted-justice.com/?con=scoobydooatl01
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/latest-news/article29236990.html
4. ↑ https://dairystatedegenerates.blogspot.com/2021/01/to-catch-predator-update-fortson-part.html
5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTPTdRxAz7M