Woman sues Match.com after alleged sex assault by man she met online
(CBS/KCAL) LOS ANGELES - A California woman claims she was sexually assaulted by a man she met on the popular online dating site Match.com, and now she's suing, saying the site needs to do more to prevent similar attacks.
On Thursday, attorneys for the woman, a Hollywood executive who wants to remain anonymous, filed a civil suit calling for Match.com to to stop adding users until a sexual predator screening process is installed.
The suspect in the case, Alan Wurtzel, is also facing felony charges in LA Superior Court. Police said he is a previously convicted sex offender for other assaults on women he met on the Internet.
CBS affiliate KCAL spoke to the attorney representing Wurtzel, who confirmed he has had problems with the law in the past.
Mark Webb is the plaintiff's attorney.
"If somebody uses their credit card to pay, then they basically run their name through a federal sex offender data bank and through a local county registration bank," said attorney Mark Webb.Webb said the woman met the alleged assailant last year in West Hollywood. After a second date, the attorney said the man, who has been convicted six separate times for sexual battery, followed her home and attacked her, KNX Radio reports.
Wurtzel's attorney said the sexual contact was consensual and that he's pleaded not guilty to two felony charges against him. His trial is set to start April 26.
Robert Platt, the attorney for Match.com, said it would have been impossible to weed him out when he signed up and the company is standing by its practices.
"We don't have their Social Security numbers. It would create so many problems by trying to get background information on all these people," said Platt.