Victim of Sexual Assault Sues Match.com

Apr. 15, 2011

By Dan Hoffman info

Dan grew up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He went to college in western Massachusetts. He can be reached at ...

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This past Wednesday a lawsuit was filed against Match.com by an as yet-unnamed L.A entertainment executive who was sexually assaulted by a man she met via the popular dating website. The lawsuit calls for the website to screen its members to ensure they are not sexual predators. In the meantime, the woman’s attorney, Mark L. Webb, is asking the L.A County Superior Court judge to bar the site from accepting any new members until the lawsuit’s demands are met.

“[Match.com is] a very powerful and successful online dating service, and they have the means to do this,” Webb said.

Webb has provided the public with some specifics about the incident; apparently, the woman had a good date with the perpetrator the first time, but the second time around turned sour when he followed her home and forced himself on her. After the incident, a quick Internet search revealed to the woman that her date had a history of sexual assault. According to Webb, not only should Match.com have always been able prevent such a person from using the site, but at this point, it should be fairly easy to implement a screening system.

According to Match.com, it is the user’s responsibility to screen their dates, and they provide many useful safety tips to help users avoid various dating misfortunes.

The woman’s lawsuit does not demand any compensation from Match.com. Rather, according to Webb, she is trying to change the world of online dating.

“This horrific ordeal completely blindsided me because I had considered myself savvy about online dating safety,” the woman said in a statement via her attorney last week. “Things quickly turned into a nightmare, beyond my control.” TC mark

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via ABC News

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  • http://www.get2know.me Anthony W

    As someone that is a software engineer at a on-line dating network it is next to impossible to do a criminal background search on a user without their consent.

    • http://tekniklr.com Teri

      So make them consent via a checkbox when they sign up. No one reads those things anyway.

    • http://tattoosnob.com Julene

      Oh, you mean *illegal.

  • MOHAMED

    Hate the playa, not the game.

  • Jordan

    It is commendable of her that she's not seeking damages. Not that I track these things, but it seems like that NEVER happens. Normally a lawsuit story pops up and you just scan until you find out how many millions of dollars they're looking for.

  • JD

    This is horrific, but match.com is not to blame. This scumbag could have a perfect record and still commit this crime.

  • sly violet

    The only one to blame is the scum who assaulted her. It seems like requiring dating sites to do background checks would not only be a logistical and legal nightmare, but would give a false sense of security, after all, many sexual assaults go unreported, and many predators have long histories and NO record. Sadly, dating puts you in a vulnerable place and predators no exactly how to exploit that.

    • sly violet

      *know

  • http://tattoosnob.com Julene

    This is sad on several levels, to me at least. Yes, it is sad that something bad happened, and that is happened because she met someone through what she thought was a “safe” place to screen her dates online. However, it is also sad that she only Googled this guy following the assault and just as sad that she is placing responsibility on a website when, in the end, it is *not* their fault.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1363230138 Michael Koh

      Maybe it was her first time. I wouldn't have thought to google someone's name… Use pipl…

  • ddwrng

    its commendable that shes not asking for money, i think this really reflects her feelings towards this situation, but admittedly i dont think match.com are to blame, they teach kids not to meet with online people irl why is it suddenly ok for 18+ year olds to do it?

  • Waicool

    i hear match.com is pretty good. i guess this one didn't work out. i would not blame match.com though. these are consenting adults, are they not? the jerk should pay for his crime, the chick should cry a bunch, shed that bastards bad energy and move on.

    • ParahSailin

      In this case, no – both adults were not “consenting.”

  • Rdksfreedom

    OMG what a waste. The woman most likely took him home and then afterwords found out that he was on the registry and flipped out and out of misplaced shame decided to sue. Would not be the first time i have seen this happen and nor will it be the last when you have people like Oprah miss-leading the public on the truth of offenders. We all make mistakes in life and some of us just don't get caught. Not saying that there are no “bad” people out there but there are thousands of people on the registry and 99% of them just want to live a normal life the best they can.

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    When you realy want find the majority of actives USA internet dating the you actually mact visit this specific USA dating Directory site USA dating reviews

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