Sex offenders need not apply to Match.com for a membership. Since the reported sexual assault, Match.com will be conducting background checks on its membership. An article in the Gothamist describe the unsavory and violent ordeal a woman experienced having agreed to go out with a man on Match.com. The article said the man had six separate convictions as a sex offender.
I wonder if these types roam around from one online dating service to another, in search of prey. Many are quite charming and know all too well how to push the right emotional buttons on women in search of a paramour. If nothing else, most sex criminals understand a successful pervert knows how to exude that special kind of charm.
Match.com President, Mandy Ginsberg wisely issued the caveat, “We want to stress that while these checks may help in certain instances, they remain highly flawed, and it is critical that this effort does not provide a false sense of security to our members.” Definitely words to live by. There is more to searching for sex offenders than merely looking up a name. I would think, too, is the new member to an online dating site actually signing up in his own name?
The article asks what becomes of people with similar names as convicted sex offenders. The sex offender registry is, after all, populated with numerous people of similar names. I don’t know how it will be handled through Match.com, but when we at Corra Group conduct a sex offender background check we isolate the person using his first last and middle names as well as his date of birth. We will draw up his social security trace to see where has lived and if his former residences reflect where the sex crimes initially took place. At the very last, we will obtain a photo of the person and ask our clients if this looks like their guy.
It is one thing to conduct the background check. But once there are results, especially with something as serious as s sex offender, it is necessary to do the additional research. On one hand you don’t want to allow a sex offender to slip between the cracks. But on the other, you don’t want to accuse someone just because they have a similar name as the one turned up in a sex offender background check. That’s an unfair price to pay for a genuine guy with a similar name, just exploring the dating sites in search of a little love.
