Police say that a 37-year-old former member of the Navy raped at least one woman after finding her on the religious-based dating site ChristianMingle.com.
According to reports, Sean Patrick Banks was apprehended and charged with two counts of rape. He plead not guilty and was released on $500,000 bond.
Police allege that Banks sexually assaulted a woman in La Mesa, California back in November, after meeting her on the ChristianMingle site. It was their first “face-to-face” date as a result of their online communications.
ChristianMingle.com calls itself a “a Christian personals community where you can find singles that share your values and love for God in Christ.”
Apparently, the break in the case came when ChristianMingle.com helped police by divulging user records.
“We continue to assist the La Mesa police department with its investigation in every way possible. The safety and security of our members is extremely important to us. In addition to having experts manually review all profile content and photos, we have developed several proprietary, automated tools to ensure the highest possible level of safety and privacy for our communities,” said a ChristianMingle.com spokesperson.
Police suspect that Banks may be responsible for additional assaults, carried out through various ChristianMingle.com profiles.
They say that he trolled the site using aliases like “Rylan Butterwood” and “Rylan Harbough.”
“We’re looking to see if there are any other victims. We’re trying to locate other victims who recognize him by his face, because they may not know his real name is Sean,” say police.
[via ABC News] [Lead Image via ChristianMingle.com – not associated with the crime]