Police investigate sex attack claims linked to dating apps

Wellington police are investigating allegations that encounters arranged over mobile dating apps ended in sexual assaults.

Most of the seven complainants and alleged offenders were aged under 25, and met via Tinder, gay counterpart Grindr, POF (Plenty of Fish), and gaming-oriented site Tagged in Wellington this year.

Charges had been laid in three cases, three investigations were continuing, and one was withdrawn, Detective Sergeant Mark Scott said. Alcohol was a factor in most of the incidents and drugs were suspected in some.

Tinder allows people to swipe through profiles of other registered users nearby. If they ‘‘match’’ with someone, they can chat privately and arrange to meet.

In Christchurch, Detective Senior Sergeant David Harvey said there had been at least three complaints in the last six months where strangers had met through dating sites or apps and ‘‘contact has gone beyond what they thought appropriate’’.

‘‘It is alarming to know people are meeting through electronic communication, and they obviously put themselves in a challenging environment . . . but people appear to be readily using them,’’ he said.

One of the six female complainants from Wellington told how she ‘‘matched’’ with a man through Tinder and, after a few drinks, returned to his flat, where their encounter turned violent. He choked, bit and scratched her, she said. ‘‘It was not a pleasant experience for me. He was just too rough and wouldn’t stop when I asked.’’

She said she was too scared to ‘‘fuss’’. ‘‘I just wanted to get it over with . . . I thought if I stopped it . . . I didn’t want to risk angering him, I didn’t want him to get any more aggressive.’’

She called police two months later, after a friend’s encouragement. However, she did not lay charges, but simply wanted to have the man warned off treating future dates the same way.

Police confirmed they phoned the man after her complaint. He apologised for his behaviour and for being rough, saying he would have stopped if he was aware she was unhappy or not consenting.

Fiona McNamara, Sexual Abuse Prevention Network coordinator, pointed out nine out of 10 sexual assaults in New Zealand were carried out by someone the victim already knew. ‘‘I think it’s the behaviour that is the issue, not the technology,’’ she said.

Tinder was linked to the death last year of Lower Hutt woman Warriena Wright, 26, who met Gable Tostee, 28, on the Gold Coast via the app. She fell to her death from the balcony of his Surfers Paradise apartment, and he has been accused of her murder.