Common Online Dating Sex Crimes. Online dating sites have more broadly become the norm for finding both casual and long-term romantic relationships. But sexual predators are actively targeting possible victims through online dating sites. There are a lot of online dating sex crimes. The most common ones include:

Romance Scams:

Romance Scams involves a fraudster accessing an unfortunate victim’s personal contact information – most often through a fake social network or dating profile. At that point they then take advantage of the inherent digital barriers between individuals on these platforms; confidently lying about their identity, then faking love or personal affection towards them to effectively request cash or personal financial information or documents.

Rape:

Rape typically involves sexual intercourse or other sorts of sexual penetration performed against an individual without that individual’s consent. The act may be performed by coercion, abuse of authority, physical force, or against an individual who is not capable of providing valid consent, for example, one who is unconscious, debilitated, suffers a mental disability or is below the legal age of consent.

It is important to know that both a male and a female can be the perpetrator or the victim of rape. Additionally, both heterosexual and homosexual rapes are online dating sex crimes that take place both inside and outside of relationships. Generally, rape is not acceptable anywhere and no matter the circumstance; it is never the victim’s fault.

Sexual Assault:

Sexual activities short of rape performed without consent are also online dating sex crimes. These crimes are generally identified as sexual assault. Sexual assault is any sort of sexual behavior or contact that takes place without the clear consent of the recipient. Sexual assault is mainly an umbrella term that includes sexual activities such as fondling, rape, or attempted rape.

The definitions of sexual assault can vary because of the way in which laws are made. On the state level, because nothing is simple, the states have sovereignty over laws, and various legislatures and jurors have formed different definitions of explicit behaviors. Some states plainly define rape or sexual assault and others may not, but fold that behavior under different terminology. It runs the gamut. States normally craft these definitions with guidance from the Department of Justice. However, the details are crafted on a state level, often based on local cases that set a model for how sexual assault is phrased and determined.