Charles Harding

Charles arrives at the sting house. Del Harvey, posing as the teenage boy, talks to him from another room. The two share conversation before Chris Hansen enters the room and terrifies Charles. He complies when told to sit down. Chris questioned Charles' plan, and Charles replied that he had a call to make to discuss the sale of a mobile home. Charles initially attempted to claim that he was "cchard69" rather than "hardchuck1" once Chris confronted him with the conversation logs, but he was unable to sustain this defense. Then Charles tries to tell a lie by claiming that another person used his computer. Charles admitted it was him when Chris questioned whether or not it was that person.

Charles revealed he was a bus driver, worked for a travel agency, and was in the air force when Chris inquired about his occupation. Then Chris questioned if he had ever worked as a teacher. Charles mentioned that he was pursuing his teacher education in a Catholic high school during his "religious life". He also acknowledges that he belonged to the Catholic Church's collared brotherhood. Chris then asks Charles why he believed it was appropriate to conduct a sexually explicit conversation with a child. Chris reminds Charles whether he said he could be the boy's grandpa, and Charles replies that he did.

Later, Chris confronts him over the child pornographic material he provided to the boy. Charles acknowledges that he sent the teenager the images because the decoy was interested. Charles asserts he obtained the images from other people and denies appearing in any of the photos. Charles then told Chris a deception regarding the age of the decoy, saying he was way older than thirteen. According to Charles, he would have conversed with the boy and departed if he felt uncomfortable. Charles responded that he would have been really hesitant to have sex with the boy and that they would do it anyhow if they continued. He declared that he would depart if the boy was not "fit." Chris asks the predator that a thirteen-year-old boy is not ready to have sex with a grown man. Charles claimed that he did not see anything improper with cuddling (kettling) and caressing the boy.

Chris inquired as to what ought to happen to him, and Charles replied that he would no longer be communicating with anyone online. He clarified that it has to do with father-son relationships. Chris shouts "FATHER/SON?!" and argued that Charles was speaking about it as though it were a hobby. Charles said he read the book and fantasized about it. When asked if he had done it before and that it was his first time, Charles claims that he had never met teenage boys online for sex. Chris then revealed that he was with Dateline NBC, and that they were doing a story on computer predators. After that, Charles left the house and was arrested by the police.

Charles was charged with three felonies: attempted lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age, attempted harmful matter sent with intent of seduction of a minor, and attempted oral copulation with a minor under 14 years of age. His bail was set $500,000, making it one of the highest bail amounts in the history of To Catch a Predator , Hansen vs Predator , and Takedown with Chris Hansen , surpassed only by Greg Karnos , Michael Seibert , Robert Lyons and Joshua Colon . Charles computer was seized, and investigators found child pornography and evidence he was a part of an exchange ring for thirty-five years. Charles died in jail awaiting trial a couple of weeks after his 66th birthday on August 10th, 2006, after he stopped taking blood pressure medication that was vital to the continued function of his heart.

There is also an unofficial memorial page for Chuck where employees have written about their memories of him. The same was done for Louis Conradt and Ernest Timmons , but not for any other predator that died before conviction. On Chris’ podcast Predators I Have Caught , he mentioned that when Harding said he was a member of the Order of John Bosco that it irritated him because he was helped out by members of the Order when he was younger. Four other men in Charles’ child pornography ring were arrested after his computer was seized and the information from it disseminated by law enforcement. Hansen considers Harding's early demise a shame only because, had he testified and been convinced to confess more details, countless other men guilty of the same crimes could've been exposed and potentially arrested.