Policeman Uses Online Dating Site to Take Revenge on Ex-Girlfriend
A cop has fallen fall of the law in Australia after placing his former girlfriend’s details on an internet dating website.
Detective Sergeant Darren Clohesy has been suspended from duty and is charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice, stalking and breaching bail six times.
The prosecution allege that both he and his current girlfriend Kellie Hunter created a profile on the dating website pretending to be his former girlfriend. The couple then invited respondants to visit her house – causing her much distress and anxiety as a string of unwanted suitors arrived on her doorstep thinking they were in for some action.
The problem of fraudulent identities on the internet is an old one. To ‘verify’ your details, most websites merely require that you provide an email address. In the case of dating sites, where anonymity is often an option given to people who are nervous about the prospect ofattracting unwanted attention, the problem can be worse as this case shows.
While technology allows websites to check the validity of a given address, there is no way for them to correlate between the address and the identity of the person claiming to live there.
In this case, the loophole was allegedly used in order to cause hurt, embarrassment and fear as a way of revenge following the break up of a relationship. It is a salutory reminder that today your privacy isn’t just something that you can protect by not giving your details out in public. Even passing your particulars to someone close to you in private can be used against you in some circumstances as this story so chillingly demonstrates.
Of course, while you can’t prevent such things happening, be aware that they can and do happen and that this activity is illegal. If you suspect that someone is breaching your privacy without your consent then your first port of call is to contact any website you think might be being used in this fashion.
If this fails, then contacting the police is absolutely essential in order to prevent the abuse getting worse – and the perpetrator could (and should) find themselves doing their social networking in the prison shower block for the next couple of years.
