Woman reveals harrowing story of meeting paedophile on dating app

Online daters are being cautioned against including pictures with their children or siblings in their profiles to protect them from paedophiles. Find out how one Sydney woman escaped.

A Sydney woman has revealed her harrowing ordeal after a man she met on a dating app turned out to be a creep who used the platforms to hunt down young women with little sisters.

The woman — who spoke anonymously out of fear of retribution — was 18 when she met the 19-year-old man on the app and went on to date him for four years.

The relationship, which was marked by physical and emotional abuse and rape, ended when she discovered the man getting sexually aroused while watching her sister dancing.

She explained that he had been eager to befriend her younger sister but not her other older siblings.

“I have a little sister … and I just had a cute picture with her on my profile when I matched him … I noticed that all his exes had little sisters too,” she said.

A Sydney woman has recounted how she escaped a dangerous man she met on the app. Picture: Supplied

“He tried to hit her, he would be creepy, (he was) watching her dancing … and he got an erection watching her and she was just dancing.”

The woman told the Telegraph that the man had used dating apps to find women with younger sisters while also matching with predominantly 18-year-old girls during their relationship.

The man is still believed to be using dating apps.

She believes the man is still on dating apps.

“I one hundred per cent think that people should go through a criminal record check and that should be disclosed … I don’t know if it’s too invasive to check for IDs but I know when I was in high school, girls who were under 18 were using them,” she said.

“There should be vetting to keep people safe.”

The horrifying story comes on the heels of a report released by the Australian Institute of Criminology Report that found that one in eight online daters had been approached by someone to gain access to their child or a minor in their care.

The disturbing practice sees paedophiles get close to people who have children featured in their profiles.

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said she was familiar with reports of dating apps being used by paedophiles to facilitate child sex abuse.

“We have been aware of that trend for some time … we made sure our online dating guidance has information about online predation,” she said.

“They are using the internet as a repository for accessing children and one day they do it by looking for women who have children in their profile pictures.”

Ms Inman Grant cautioned single parents and app users against including references to children in their care until they trust the person.

“Women might want to share upfront because there are a lot of people who won’t want to get engaged with a single mother to let them know,” she said.

“But what we are trying to advise women is … get to know the person and establish a level of trust. If that person shows too much interest in their children and wants to know about their age and gender, that’s a huge red flag.”

For help on tackling dangerous online behaviour, visit esafety.gov.au