Michael Seibert

"Ewps!"

―Seibert's stunned response to Chris Hansen during the two stings he was caught in

Michael Jason Seibert
Seibert's Riverside mugshot
Aliases	budd44800
Relatives	Mother and father
Affiliation /Occupation	Former grocery store worker Hardware store worker
Biographical information
Marital status	Single
Date of birth	April 4, 1980
Physical description
Gender	Male
Height	5'4"
Weight	123 lb
Eye color	Hazel
Hair Color	Brown

Michael Jason Seibert is a predator caught during the Riverside, California and Long Beach, California investigations of the To Catch a Predator series. Seibert is notable for being one of the only predators in the series to be caught during an NBC investigation twice, the other being John Kennelly, although Kennelly was caught in the same sting within a two day period, whereas Seibert was caught in two separate stings eight months apart. He is also noted for his distinctive voice, which caused him to pronounce certain words (such as 'oops') in a strange way ("ewps").

Biography

Before getting caught in the sting, Seibert was dropped on his head as a baby. Unfortunately, it left a scar on his head, caused him to suffer from seizures, and he suffered from many mental health issues. Seibert was arrested and sentenced to a year in jail after chasing a man and assaulting him with a baseball bat, although the reason why he did so remains unknown, possibly due to the man making fun of Seibert because of his impairments. He worked at a grocery store and lived in Southern California.

First encounter

Chat

In December of 2005, twenty-five-year-old Seibert made contact with a Perverted Justice decoy posing as a thirteen-year-old girl. He immediately inquired about the decoy's development of her breasts. He also 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. 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 ("i am jack off") and kept asking for sex for the remainder of the chat.

Sting

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 eighteen-years-old. Seibert revealed his age of twenty-five and apologised for lying immediately 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 a mental disability or another suspect scheduled to come in shortly, Hansen did not reveal his involvement with Dateline and did 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 before being released.

Second encounter

Chat

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 stated he needed a girlfriend that was over eighteen before asking 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 repeatedly asked 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. At one point, Seibert repeatedly told the decoy to stop messaging him, although every time the decoy reminded him he didn't have to talk to her, he continued the conversation, failing to understand that, as a grown man, he should've stopped talking to her altogether.

Sting

Seibert entered the house after inquiring whether or not anyone else was home. He and the decoy had a lighthearted conversation about the punch she supposedly made for him before Hansen came out and quipped how Michael looked familiar, to which he replied with his signature, "Oops." Seibert took a seat and seemed embarrassed and stressed, confirming he recognised Hansen. He requested permission to leave but was asked to stay and talk for a while. 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 tried to leave and asked if he could go home, but Chris told him to stay on the stool. He then began to become nervous and rubbed his eyes. He tried denying that he knew the girls age, but when he was reminded, 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. When Chris told Michael it wasn't up top him if he was arrested, Michael whimpered, "Y-Yeah it is!" Like before in Riverside, he claimed he needed to use the restroom before being told to leave again. He eventually left the house and was immediately arrested. He admitted he still lived with his mother and that she would kill him when she found out about his second arrest.

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 the brain injury he suffered 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 ten to twenty 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. According to his Megan's Law profile, he has been classed as an Above Average Risk sex offender.

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.

2024 update

Seibert was seen by a fan working at a hardware store, and the fan was able to take two photos of him. Another picture was posted of Seibert more up close, with the user claiming that he overheard Seibert boasting to another co-worker about how he had sex with a girl while she was on her period.

Trivia

• Seibert was initially unaired in the Riverside episode, while his uncut interview would later be uploaded to the MSNBC subscription service, and a sample of his Riverside interview and interrogation shown in the Long Beach episode. Only parts of his uncut Long Beach segment have been recovered, and edited together to create a more complete interaction.
• Previously, Seibert only had a very brief verifier phone call released where he immediately told the decoy he was "sitting here bing bored" before asking if he could call her back, but when Morticia recovered his file from a Perverted Justice archive in 2024, he had roughly half an hour worth of unreleased calls with the decoy, which included him making hilariously obnoxiously noises imitating a baby when the decoy told him her aunt had recently given birth.

Gallery

An undated RSO mugshot of Michael

Seibert's 2020 RSO mugshot

Seibert's 2023 RSO mugshot