Match.com Agrees to Screen for Sex Offenders to Settle Lawsuit

Aug. 24, 2011— -- Finding your mate online is about to get a little safer. Match.com, the Internet dating site, has agreed to conduct background checks on its members in order to settle a lawsuit brought by 54-year-old Carole Markin, who was raped by a man she met on the dating site. The man, 67-year-old, Alan Wurtzel had six prior convictions for sexual offenses.

Mark Webb, Markin's attorney, said, "When you're right and you can show you're right … and you can get a big huge company to agree that change has to happen, it's a wonderful thing." Webb expects the other big dating sites like E-Harmony to follow Match.com's lead and institute background checks.

Prior to Markin's lawsuit, Match.com was not conducting background checks of any kind on its members.

"Before we filed the lawsuit, we asked them to do federal, state and local checks for sex offenders. They refused. We filed the lawsuit, and within three days they reversed their position and said, O.K., we'll do federal. We said, That's not enough. Now yesterday they have finally announced they will do all three," said Webb.

Doing a background check with all levels of government is particularly important, said Webb, because an offender like Wurtzel would not have been exposed by just looking for his name on the federal sex offender registry. He was only listed in the LA county registry.

Like millions of single women -- and men -- Markin, a Los Angeles entertainment executive, was looking for love online when she signed up with Match.com.

She had had several previous positive experiences with men she met through Internet dating "They were nice, successful guys. Maybe they shaved a few years off their age and a few pounds off their profile … but I never, ever thought I would be encountering a criminal," said Markin.

Markin met Wurtzel for coffee at a sidewalk café, but after a few dates she knew they wouldn't be a match. Because she had a broken foot, Markin allowed Wurtzel to drive her home after one of their dates. He entered her apartment and within minutes, Markin found herself pinned down. "It was very quick, like an ambush … he's a big man and I was just in shock," said Markin.