A NJ man is suing gay hookup app Grindr for not properly vetting its users—which he claims led to him hooking up with a 13-year-old boy.
William Saponaro Jr., 52, was arrested and charged with sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child after meeting up with the teen and another man for sex. In his lawsuit, Saponaro Jr. claims he was invited to have sex with 24-year-old Mark LeMunyon and the teen on June 21st, 2012, after they all met on Grindr. Saponaro says he never checked the age of the teen because he "reasonably believed [the minor] was 18 years or older," because Grindr terms of service doesn't allow minors.
He believes that Grindr is responsible for his woes because the company acted "negligently" in its failure to verify the teen's age; Grindr argues it cannot control what information its users provide. Saponaro adds that he hasn't been able to go to his job at a construction business since his arrest, and claims negligent infliction of emotional distress by Grindr. Saponaro faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.
This isn't the first dating app lawsuit in recent years: a Queens man sued OKCupid after he was swindled out of $70K by a man he met on the dating website; Match.com was forced to filter customers through a national sex offender registry after being sued; and Tinder was sued earlier this summer by one of its co-founders because of rampant sexual harassment.
