Mother-of-two Cheyenne O’Connor (24) has called for the makers of apps such as Tinder and the gay and bi-sexual app Grindr to introduce stringent age verification tools to prevent youngsters from using them.
She suggested that companies ask anyone signing up to their apps to scan a copy of their passport or driving licence to enable their age to be verified. Many gambling companies already use a similar process for people opening online betting accounts.
Miss O’Connor made the comments after she snared sexual offender Jason Sutton (48) on Grindr by posing as a 15-year-old ‘boy’.
Sutton attempted to meet the ‘boy’ in toilets near Patriotic Street car park for sexual touching. Transcripts of the explicit messages he sent the ‘boy’ were passed to the police and he was last week jailed after admitting the offence. How long he will spend behind bars is due to be decided later this month.
Miss O’Connor, who helped catch another 19-year-old offender in September, said it was frightening how easy it was to access Grindr and other apps without any verification.
‘There is absolutely no security but there absolutely needs to be,’ she said.
‘You should have to send a copy of your passport over to be checked before you can get on. Any child or teenager could access it as it is so easy to get on. I just downloaded it and used a fake email address and I was on and could be contacted by hundreds of local men.’
Miss O’Connor said at least three other men – not including Sutton – contacted her and tried to engage in sexual chat. One man, she says, told who he thought was a 15-year-old boy off for being on the app, only to message again the next morning saying: ‘Hey sexy. I am horny x.’
Last year, a 25-year-old man was jailed for nine months after a team of JEP reporters conducted a similar online investigation.
Research in the UK has found that many teenagers use adult dating sites. Experts say that often teenagers use them as a way of boosting their self-esteem.
A JEP reporter downloaded the Grindr app to see how easy it was to access. Users are asked to input an email address, six-character password and their date of birth.
The reporter tried to use a date of birth which would have made them younger than 18 but was greeted with a message that read: ‘Sorry. Grindr is 18 and up only. Come back later!’
Once an adequate date of birth was selected, the reporter had to tick a verification box and then had access to the app.
Grindr were contacted for comment but did not reply.
