Society's Child
The woman, an entertainment executive from California, is demanding that the website screens all its members for sexual predators.
Her lawyer Mark L. Webb is asking for a temporary injunction barring the site from signing up more members until his client's demands are met.
He said: 'They are a very powerful and successful online dating service, and they have the means to do this.'
He described his client, known in the lawsuit as Jane Doe, as an Ivy League graduate who works in film and television.
She met her her alleged assailant, Alan Paul Wurtzel, last year at a cafe in West Hollywood.
She said he seemed charming and so agreed to see him again. After the second date, however, he allegedly followed her home and forced himself on her.
Mr Wurtzel's attorney has described the incident as 'a consenting sexual encounter.'
A spokesman for Match.com told the Wall Street Journal: 'We are very disturbed to hear about this incident. While incidents like this one between individuals who meet on Match.com are extremely rare, it doesn't make them any less horrifying.
'We ask all of our members to pay close attention to the safety tips for meeting offline that are on our website, so we can do everything possible to prevent this type of thing from happening again.
'There are steps you can take to protect yourself online and offline, whether you met someone on an online dating service, through an acquaintance, or at a bar.'
The woman said in a statement through her lawyer: 'This horrific ordeal completely blindsided me because I had considered myself savvy about online dating safety.
'Things quickly turned into a nightmare, beyond my control.'
After the man left, the woman went online and learned that he had been convicted of several counts of sexual battery.
Charges are pending in the Match.com case, Mr Webb said.
Reader Comments
take some responsibility for yourself.
you wanted a date, you took an action - you oot raped - sad, awful, but why the hell must you make someone else responsible for what happened to you. you took a chance - it backfired, by all means heal but don't now capitalize on the experience.
this is just so American.
blame the agency.
for a few dollars you expect them to run an up to date state of the art personality analysis and pick up any inherent weaknesses.
oh get over it.
while the Japanese try to get on with their devastated life's , the spoilt west demand everything and sue when it does not work out.
These dating sites are breeding grounds for all kinds of predators. These sites will probably go in to decline within a decade as people begin to realize that too many freaks are out there. Imagine if you met someone on one of these sites and you find them attractive and fun, then months later you discover that they have a hidden drug addiction, a history of violent outbreaks, manipulating friends, a narcissist, etc...and now you are in a situation you wish had not got involved with as this person knows everything about you.
Internet social sites are profiting off of these real life scenarios. You just paid a company $20.00 to help you find a disaster. Perhaps I should start a site called " Mess Your Life Up.com" and charge $39.95 a year. One million subscribers would gross me 40 million dollars a year. How fun! To mess everyones life up and profit from it. Look what the founders of facebook created. 6 women in my neighborhood have gotten a divorce from their husbands who found past loves on facebook. Look at all the narcissists on the social network especially the teenage girls wanting to be the next Kate Moss. You never know who is checking your photos out. The internet is going to have an overhaul soon.