Crime & Safety
Police Investigate Online Date Rape Suspect
A Christian Internet dating site based in Beverly Hills works with San Diego police investigating a possible serial rapist.
A Beverly Hills-based internet dating service with a Christian focus is cooperating with police near San Diego as they investigate a reported rapist who may have assaulted other women, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Sean Banks, 37, of Del Mar, was arrested by police in La Mesa for suspicion of raping a woman he met on the ChristianMingle website. Police said the man may have victimized other women he had met on the dating website, the Times reported.
Sean Banks was charged with rape, burglary and penetration by force involving a woman in La Mesa, according to court records. He was arrested Feb. 11 and has pleaded not guilty, the newspaper reported.
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Banks, a computer technician, worked in various locations across the United States. Police said they are investigating whether he may have lured other victims through Beverly Hills-based ChristianMingle and other websites, possibly using pseudonyms, including Rylan Butterwood and Rylan Harbough.
In the La Mesa case, he used the single name Rarity, police told the Times.
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The alleged attack occurred in the woman's home the first time the two met in person after carrying on conversations over the Internet, police told the newspaper.
ChristianMingle was cooperating with the investigation, police said.
La Mesa is a small suburb east of San Diego. Police asked anyone with information about Banks or other possible victims to call the La Mesa Police Department at 619-667-7538.
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