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Teen Clubs May Not Be As Safe As Parents Think

An "Inside Edition" Hidden Camera Investigation

January 31, 2007
In a report airing Thursday, February 1, the syndicated television news show Inside Edition found scantily clad girls, raunchy contests and sexual acts being performed in public at teen clubs in several states including New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

Across the country, nightclubs are hosting special events dubbed as "teen nights" that are promoted as a way for teenagers to indulge in clean and safe fun and where no alcohol is served.

Inside Edition sent young adult researchers with hidden cameras posing as teenagers into several of these clubs to expose what is really occurring at these popular teen hangouts.

Consistently the researchers found girls entering the club with one outfit on and emerging from the bathroom in a different, much more revealing outfit.

"The girls would come in in one outfit, go into the bathroom and change and hide their clothes in the closet," one researcher said.

Inside Edition cameras also caught teenagers engaging in sexual acts, even intercourse, right out in the open while other kids and employees stood nearby.

Although admittance is limited to the underage crowd, at one club in New York, it was easy for a 25-year-old Inside Edition producer to gain entrance to "teen night."

"The guy at the door had said something along the lines of 'you look older' and he [the producer] said 'oh, but I have money' and the guy was like "okay fine go right in.'"

In two of the New York clubs, adult employees repeatedly tried to pick up the Inside Edition researchers who were supposed to be just 17 years old.

The worst caught-on-tape behavior was at Club Tabu located just outside of Boston where every Saturday is "teen night."

Inside Edition cameras captured a teen sex free-for-all where adult deejays and club promoters encouraged teenage girls to grope one another and act suggestively during a kissing contest, where the only contestants were female.

"The adults were encouraging it," explains a researcher. "The deejay was yelling 'grab her butt. The audience doesn't like you, they're not yelling loud enough,' and that's how they were basing who won the contest."

At one point, hidden cameras capture one girl removing the blouse of another, leaving her in just a bra as they kiss onstage. The report also shows an adult male working at the club pouring water over another group of three teens as they kiss in the contest.

Inside Edition's Senior Investigative reporter Matt Meagher tracked down one of the "teen night" promoters who refers to himself as Vicious. The 26-year-old, who posts very risque photos of teenagers from "teen night" on the Internet, ran away from Meagher refusing to comment.

Meagher also spoke with a man who identified himself as one of Tabu's owners. When Meagher showed him some of the undercover footage, he denied any salacious activity occurs in the club. In fact, he said his club is doing a service to parents.

"I think that you are trying to make a big deal out of nothing. These kids come over here, we get them off the streets. They do nothing wrong… We take kids off the streets which is good for them and their parents," he said.

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