This past December, 25 year old Kevin Bacon met up with Mark Latunski after connecting with him on online dating app. The encounter between the two resulted in Bacon’s death after Latunski stabbed and slit his throat. In response to his death, Thomas Pierce from the Grand Rapids Pride Center says the organization is releasing a poster of tips to help LGBTQ people identify whether the person they are connecting with online is safe or not.
“This was an example of something, not to say that could have been prevented, but we hope that by putting out some very general, straightforward advice that hopefully we do prevent more stuff like this from happening cause we do see more and more people being victimized after they go and meet someone.”
Megan Stubbs, an expert on human sexuality, and relationships, urges dating-app users to make a safety plan, meet dates in public and share information about matches.
“When you are meeting someone always keep in mind that anyone can say they are anyone on the internet. So if you are going to progress your relationship into meeting someone in real life make sure you have their name. There’s nothing wrong in giving it a google, if things don’t match up if they have no social media, no presence on the internet that would be a red flag to me; and also when you are meeting definitely tell someone where you are going.”
Michelle Jokisch Polo, WGVU News.
