Carole Markin (HollywoodGiants.com) |
LOS ANGELES (KTLA) -- A Hollywood producer who claims she was raped by a man she met on Match.com is asking a federal judge to force the service to implement a faster and better sex offender screening process.
Carole Markin, initially identified as "Jane Doe" in court documents, filed a civil lawsuit against the site last month. Match.com had the hearing moved to federal court in Los Angeles.
Markin, 53, claims she was sexually assaulted by Alan Paul Wurtzel, 67, after the two met on the dating website. After the alleged assault, Markin says she went online and discovered Wurtzel had been convicted of sexual battery six separate times.
Both have been subpoenaed to testify at a preliminary injunction hearing Monday along with the site's president, according to Markin's attorney, Mark L. Webb. Webb says the case could have lasting implications.
"The issue of sex offender screening has never before been presented to a court. Because Match.com moved this case to Federal Court, we now have the extraordinary opportunity of obtaining a federal guideline by which to measure sex offender screening in online dating services," Webb said in a statement. "No state has passed a law on this subject and therefore Judge Wilson's ruling could have huge ramifications. I believe that the judge's ruling in this case will set the standard in this arena."
Webb says the goal is for Match.com to "implement the screening process sooner than 60 to 90 days and utilize more effective screening techniques with further reaching databases."
Match.com President Mandy Ginsberg announced shortly after the lawsuit filing that the site would begin conducting criminal background checks on their users.
Both current and future subscribers would face screening against the national sex offender registry, which could take months to implement.
Ginsburg said they had avoided doing such checks in the past because of the unreliability of the database.
Webb says his client met the suspect last year at Urth Cafe in West Hollywood after finding each other on Match.com.
She agreed to see him for a second date. That's when the suspect allegedly followed her home and raped her.
"This horrific ordeal completely blindsided me because I had considered myself savvy about online dating safety," Markin said in a statement.
"Things quickly turned into a nightmare, beyond my control."
The suit asks for temporary restraining order requesting no more members be signed up for Match.com until there's a way to screen out sexual predators.
Match.com has called the alleged incident was "horrifying," but said cases like this are extremely rare.
Wurtzel has been charged and is awaiting trial. His attorney calls the encounter consensual.
Markin, a Harvard graduate, has said she decided to come forward to make sure "something like this" doesn't happen to anyone else.
Carole Markin, initially identified as "Jane Doe" in court documents, filed a civil lawsuit against the site last month. Match.com had the hearing moved to federal court in Los Angeles.
Markin, 53, claims she was sexually assaulted by Alan Paul Wurtzel, 67, after the two met on the dating website. After the alleged assault, Markin says she went online and discovered Wurtzel had been convicted of sexual battery six separate times.
Both have been subpoenaed to testify at a preliminary injunction hearing Monday along with the site's president, according to Markin's attorney, Mark L. Webb. Webb says the case could have lasting implications.
"The issue of sex offender screening has never before been presented to a court. Because Match.com moved this case to Federal Court, we now have the extraordinary opportunity of obtaining a federal guideline by which to measure sex offender screening in online dating services," Webb said in a statement. "No state has passed a law on this subject and therefore Judge Wilson's ruling could have huge ramifications. I believe that the judge's ruling in this case will set the standard in this arena."
Webb says the goal is for Match.com to "implement the screening process sooner than 60 to 90 days and utilize more effective screening techniques with further reaching databases."
Match.com President Mandy Ginsberg announced shortly after the lawsuit filing that the site would begin conducting criminal background checks on their users.
Both current and future subscribers would face screening against the national sex offender registry, which could take months to implement.
Ginsburg said they had avoided doing such checks in the past because of the unreliability of the database.
Webb says his client met the suspect last year at Urth Cafe in West Hollywood after finding each other on Match.com.
She agreed to see him for a second date. That's when the suspect allegedly followed her home and raped her.
"This horrific ordeal completely blindsided me because I had considered myself savvy about online dating safety," Markin said in a statement.
"Things quickly turned into a nightmare, beyond my control."
The suit asks for temporary restraining order requesting no more members be signed up for Match.com until there's a way to screen out sexual predators.
Match.com has called the alleged incident was "horrifying," but said cases like this are extremely rare.
Wurtzel has been charged and is awaiting trial. His attorney calls the encounter consensual.
Markin, a Harvard graduate, has said she decided to come forward to make sure "something like this" doesn't happen to anyone else.
