Don’t downvote.

To start this off, I am in NO way justifying what the people on this show did... I'm just asking, legal-wise, what exactly they did that was illegal:

As people probably already know, Chris Hansen's "How to Catch A Predator" is a reality series sting operation, in which predators are duped by adults impersonating as minors, and they get arrested.

To get to the point, my question is, that, since the predators are clearly chatting with adults, instead of minors, and are with an adult pretending to be a minor whenever they get to the house, what exactly did they get arrested for/do wrong LEGAL-wise? If they chatting with adults, and not actual minors, what laws did they break exactly?

To add to that, I'd like to ask the same thing with the EDP445 situation, in which a famous YouTuber was ALSO duped into having inappropriate conversations with an adult impersonating a minor... I dont believe he actually got into any legal trouble though

Finally, AGAIN, I am NOT justifying what the people on this show did... I'm just asking legal-wise, what exactly they did that was illegal