An Ohio man has sued SexSearch, its executives, and its partners in U.S. District Court for Columbus Ohio claiming the defendants committed fraud and violated Ohio consumer laws by marketing children to adults for sexual purposes.
The man, who had sex with a 14-year-old girl, said he believed she was over 18 years of age. The man stated the reason for his assumption was that SexSearch claimed it verifies the ages of all its members in order to make sure minors don't use the site.
The 14-year-old was a member of the SexSearch website.
The man was arrested after having intercourse with the minor at her home. A variety of charges were levied against him, including unlawful conduct with a minor. The criminal complaint carries a possible sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
One important issue surrounding the plaintiff's case squarely affects the adult industry: whether credit cards should be considered proof of legal majority. Presently, this method is the status-quo; however, Congress soon may change that.
"[Verifying age via] credit card is one of many tools that can help keep minors from accessing adult websites, but it's certainly not a foolproof system," said Joan Irvine, executive director of the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection.
Industry Attorney J.D. Obenberger asserted the dating site's credit-card age-check service does not create a legally defensible "reasonable belief" that a potential sexual partner is at least 18 years of age. The onus remains upon an adult to check the age of the individual with whom he or she has sex, and an adult should not rely upon an online dating service to take care of that responsibility, Obenberger said, adding it simply is a matter of common sense.
"OK, so now we have a man who trolls the Internet, winds up meeting a 14-year-old who allegedly tells him that she's 18, goes to her house, and without further formality has sexual intercourse with her—and when he's arrested, he claims that he's a victim. He claims that he is the victim of the website that enabled them to meet," Obenberger observed. "Is it news to this man that underage girls lie about their age to get into bars, to buy cigarettes, and to date older men? What did he do to assure himself that she was of legal age? What irritates me about this situation is that he bears absolute responsibility to possess common sense and use it—but he abdicates that responsibility by pointing at a website, and blaming it for the consequences of his sexual adventure."
Another attorney gave a bit more credit to the suit.
"I believe that the Ohio plaintiff has some merit to his claims," said Robert Apgood, whose Seattle-based practice focuses on the adult industry. "Regardless of whether SexSearch uses credit cards for age verification, it nevertheless made representations that it conducted age verification on all of its members. [The] Ohio man still had a duty to verify the female's age prior to engaging in sex with her. I am closely watching the court to see how it handles this fairly pithy question."
Self-regulation is the tool most people within the adult industry say will prevent excessive government attention, and self-regulatory actions like age-verification could be part of the fallout from the SexSearch suit.
"When I attended the recent State of the Net conference in Washington, D.C., it was generally agreed that unfortunately there is no 'Holy Grail' of age verification," Irvine said. "Most adult sites do their best, and ASACP recently launched the Restricted to Adults website label so the industry would have another tool to help keep minors out."
Without leveling blame at minors for adults' conduct, Irvine discussed parents' responsibility for overseeing their children's behavior on the Net.
"[It's] equally vital that parents stay aware of and involved in their kids' Internet use," she said. "Children can get in trouble in chat rooms, on social-networking sites, and instant messaging. There's no replacement for parental supervision or for communicating honestly with your kids about online dangers."
Obenberger pointed out that a recent federal court decision striking down the Child Online Protection Act was on point regarding the use of credit cards for age verification. Judge Lowell Reed noted that while a significant number of minors have access to credit card numbers, a credit card alone by no means is a strong enough indicator upon which to base a belief as to the age of a person. In the more serious and weighty—and potentially dangerous—decisions of life, including with whom one has sex, one must apply common sense and powers of judgment and observation, the judge stated.
The Ohio plaintiff is requesting unspecified damages, punitive damages, and triple damages under Ohio's Consumer Sales Practices Act. He also seeks a restraining order enjoining SexSearch from accepting any more Ohio members and wants the company to pay his legal fees.
