Father of three has been found guilty of raping five women after meeting them online

[Tennis]

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2...dating-website

A father of three has been found guilty of raping five women after meeting them on internet dating site Match.com.

Jason Lawrance, described by police as a “sexual predator”, contacted thousands of women online. He made three sexual attacks months after getting married to someone he met via the website.

The 50-year-old was also found guilty of attempting to rape and sexually assault two other women after chatting to them online.

Derby crown court heard that four of the victims complained about Lawrance to Match.com; one of the women was told that administrators could not do anything because he had not sent abusive messages through the site.

Lawrance, a former company director turned self-employed builder, texted one of his victims after attacking her. He apologised for “hurting her” and said: “When you were crying out for me to stop I couldn’t, I’m so mad at myself xxx.”

The jury of six women and six men heard that Lawrance raped another woman in the back of a van that he had parked in a field in Northamptonshire, while a third was attacked at her home as her son was sleeping in a nearby bedroom.

He was arrested after a friend of a woman who was raped in Derbyshire in November 2014 went to the police. Investigations found that he had sexually attacked another six women met through Match.com since June 2011.

Prosecuting, Shaun Smith QC told the jury that Lawrance – who used the profile names KeepItStraightToday and StraightMan-Looking – was a Jekyll and Hyde character and that he targeted “vulnerable, naive, lonely women”.

DCI Allison Rigby of Derbyshire police said the trial had been “devastating” for the victims. “I certainly think he is a sexual predator who has preyed on women through Match.com that he has met who have got [some] vulnerability,” she said. “He seems to have targeted females who are divorced and widowed.

“Only Jason Lawrance will know how many people he has sexually assaulted – it is possible that there are other people out there.

“I would say [the victims] have been very brave in the fact they have come forward to give evidence and confront him in court … I just hope once this case is finished, they can move forward and start to rebuild their lives.”

Rigby added that she hoped the case would give dating sites the chance to ensure they had a “robust process” for dealing with complaints and that they could remove someone from the site in a “timely manner” if issues were raised.

The jury took 10 hours find Lawrance guilty of all charges. Judge Gregory Dickinson said remanded him in custody until his sentencing on Thursday morning.

Women need to really be careful who they choose to meet from their online friends.
Too often are we reading stories like this.

[Deleted]

Can we like, get news that actually matter?

[Deleted]

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2...dating-website




Women need to really be careful who they choose to meet from their online friends.

Reporting for flamebating.

People spreading hate on men should be banned just like racism.

[Deleted]

What does raping mean? It sound like... it has enough of space for billions of lawyers to abuse the gap.

[Ninjavitis]

Reporting for flamebating.

People spreading hate on men should be banned just like racism.

Getting banned is one of Tennisace's hobbies, just give it time.

Women need to really be careful who they choose to meet from their online friends.

This sounds an awful lot like victim blaming.

[Wells]

Can we like, get news that actually matter?

What would Gen_OT do without unimportant events to bitch about?

[Tennis]

Can we like, get news that actually matter?

We're on an online forum where people interact. This news definitely matters.

[Deleted]

Women need to really be careful

I don't get you. You most definitely aren't on the side of women, not with this kind of fearmongering. Who do women need to be careful of? Fathers of three children? Is that why you mentioned it in the title?

Or, all men? You're a man, right? Women should be afraid of you, then? Is that what you're trying to say here?

[Deleted]

We're on an online forum where people interact. This news definitely matters.

No, it's just crime #4324324 being reported about in the news. There's nothing noteworthy about it.

[Super Kami Dende]

Oh no someone committed a crime!, quick warn 50% of the Worlds population to never interact with people.

[Tennis]

Should online dating sites be doing more to protect women from sexual predators?

Online dating is now a part of everyday life for millions of people. It’s the largest single way in which relationships start in the UK today and more than nine million people are signed up to dating websites.

But they have a darker side, too. Dating websites and apps are now also an established means by which sexual offenders can target women online.

Earlier this month, figures from the National Crime Agency showed the number of people who reported being raped on their first date with someone they met on an app has risen six-fold in five years.

In 2014, 184 people reported being raped by someone they met online, up a massive 457 per cent on the 33 claims made in 2009. What's more, with sexual assaults so often going unreported to police, it’s estimated the actual number of attacks could be 10 times higher.

It’s understandably led to growing concerns around the protections dating sites and apps have in place to protect their users.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/lif...-women-from-s/

- - - Updated - - -

I don't get you. You most definitely aren't on the side of women, not with this kind of fearmongering. Who do women need to be careful of? Fathers of three children? Is that why you mentioned it in the title?

Or, all men? You're a man, right? Women should be afraid of you, then? Is that what you're trying to say here?

The crime was carried out by a father of three children.
Can you actually comment on the article the OP posted?

[Crissi]

Ive gone on plenty of online dates. So far Im rape / harassment / scary things free.

You really just need to follow some basic caution, and then online dating is not any worse than anything else in terms of dating.

[Saladbar]

It's unfortunate that so many women don't report rape. Not reporting let's a predator like this continue to hurt more women. I can understand not reporting too though; so many skeptics, and so often they are accused of not being truthful.

[Tennis]

Ive gone on plenty of online dates. So far Im rape / harassment / scary things free.

You really just need to follow some basic caution, and then online dating is not any worse than anything else in terms of dating.

So you think these women were not following basic caution?

[Deleted]

Can you actually comment on the article the OP posted?

You're the OP, dude.

[Celista]

Ive gone on plenty of online dates. So far Im rape / harassment / scary things free.

Don't see how that's relevant, rape can happen anytime, anywhere to literally anyone...I don't think anyone's claiming a 100% likelihood of getting raped while going on online dates.

- - - Updated - - -

You're the OP, dude.

OP talks in the third person a lot.

- - - Updated - - -

Would you like to go on a date with me to the middle of the woods with no people or cellphone reception and practice digging body sized holes?

Only if there's candy in the van on the way there.

[soulzek]

This article brought to you by competitors of Match.com

[Aqua]

Women need to really be careful who they choose to meet from their online friends.
Too often are we reading stories like this.

Yeah women, close your legs! You're practically inviting penises in!

I'm sure you can imply my sarcastic tone upon a reading, but just incase, I'll spell it out too.

I'm fairly certain Lawrance didn't write 'serial rapist' on his profile page, women can take all the precautions in the world when dating, and still get attacked by people they know intimately. So please, just...don't. It's bad enough we have to have emergency panic button apps, to send messages quickly to police and friends to justify to people that we took the precautions necessary. (though that won't be a fast enough response to stop the attack in many cases)

[Mormolyce]

Can we like, get news that actually matter?

What like 10 more threads about Trump? Another thread about someone possibly throwing pee? The thigh gap? The relative lethality of broomsticks?

[Crissi]

Don't see how that's relevant, rape can happen anytime, anywhere to literally anyone...I don't think anyone's claiming a 100% likelihood of getting raped while going on online dates.

.

Point being, because I can see the demonization of online already, that online dating really is no worse as long as one isnt completely stupid about it. Which can be true of dating offline too. Goodness knows my one bad experience came from a guy I met on a fieldtrip.