Alan Paul Wurtzel, 67 (Booking Photo) |
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (KTLA) -- A Pacific Palisades man, who pleaded no contest to sexually assaulted a woman he met on Match.com, was sentenced Monday to a year in prison.
Alan Wurtzel, 67, pleaded no contest last month to one count of sexual battery by restraint.
Wurtzel was also sentenced to five years of probation and was ordered to register as a sex offender and complete a year of counseling.
Under a terms of his probation, he will also not be allowed to use computers or phones for social networking without permission.
Last month, Match.com settled a lawsuit with the woman assaulted by Wurtzel, pledging to perform security background checks on all members.
TV executive Carole Markin, 54, sued Match.com after she was sexually assaulted last year by a man she met on the site following their second date.
Wurtzel had at least six prior sexual assault convictions.
After the alleged assault, Markin says she went online and learned of the convictions.
In her lawsuit, filed in April, Markin demanded that the site screen members against state and federal registries.
Match.com President Mandy Ginsberg announced shortly after the lawsuit filing that the site would begin conducting criminal background checks on their users.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Match.com attorney Robert Platt said that the company has no legal obligation to screen members but believes that increased accessibility to these databases due to recent advances in technology "enables a significant degree of accuracy to implement this measure."
Wurtzel pleaded no contest August 17 to felony sexual battery by restraint and faces one year in jail and five years' probation when he is sentenced September 19.
Prosecutors say that Wurtzel drove Markin home after their second date in 2010 and proceeded to followed her inside and assault her.
Attorneys for Wurtzel contend that a rape never took place and that the sex was consensual.
Both current and future subscribers would face screening against the national sex offender registry, which could take months to implement.
Markin said she decided to come forward to make sure "something like this" doesn't happen to anyone else.
Alan Wurtzel, 67, pleaded no contest last month to one count of sexual battery by restraint.
Wurtzel was also sentenced to five years of probation and was ordered to register as a sex offender and complete a year of counseling.
Under a terms of his probation, he will also not be allowed to use computers or phones for social networking without permission.
Last month, Match.com settled a lawsuit with the woman assaulted by Wurtzel, pledging to perform security background checks on all members.
TV executive Carole Markin, 54, sued Match.com after she was sexually assaulted last year by a man she met on the site following their second date.
Wurtzel had at least six prior sexual assault convictions.
After the alleged assault, Markin says she went online and learned of the convictions.
In her lawsuit, filed in April, Markin demanded that the site screen members against state and federal registries.
Match.com President Mandy Ginsberg announced shortly after the lawsuit filing that the site would begin conducting criminal background checks on their users.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Match.com attorney Robert Platt said that the company has no legal obligation to screen members but believes that increased accessibility to these databases due to recent advances in technology "enables a significant degree of accuracy to implement this measure."
Wurtzel pleaded no contest August 17 to felony sexual battery by restraint and faces one year in jail and five years' probation when he is sentenced September 19.
Prosecutors say that Wurtzel drove Markin home after their second date in 2010 and proceeded to followed her inside and assault her.
Attorneys for Wurtzel contend that a rape never took place and that the sex was consensual.
Both current and future subscribers would face screening against the national sex offender registry, which could take months to implement.
Markin said she decided to come forward to make sure "something like this" doesn't happen to anyone else.
