'Catch A Predator' Host Chris Hansen Unsure of Surgical Castration Efficacy

Chris Hansen's not supporting surgically castrating child predators ... arguing he's not sure it'll put an end to their criminal acts -- or if it'll stand up in a court of law.

We spoke with the "To Catch a Predator" host earlier this week and asked him about the controversial bill passed in Louisiana allowing judges to impose surgical castration on certain child predators ... and, he tells us he's pretty leery of the whole thing.

Hansen says he's met a ton of alleged predators over the years -- on 'Catch' and his new show 'Takedown' on streaming platform TruBlu -- and, he doesn't think surgically castrating them will stop them from abusing children.

CH claims these people might find other ways to abuse children ... and, he says he'd rather see more treatment options for people in danger of becoming predators -- stopping crimes before they can happen.

He's also not even convinced Louisiana's proposed surgical castration law will stand up to court scrutiny -- and, watch for yourself to see his reasons why.

Worth noting, Chris doesn't have a law degree, but he's got strong opinions and plenty of experience in this arena.

Chris does have recommendations for other ways society can handle sexual predators -- therapy and harsher prison sentences to keep predators off the streets will serve as better deterrents, he figures.

Chris adds people reach out to him after listening to his podcast -- "Predators I’ve Caught with Chris Hansen" -- saying they've had urges they've never acted on because they're able to get therapy, so, it seemingly works for some people.