From my buddy Jay at Wizbang:

Online Dater is Raped

Like many contemporary first dates, this one began in cyberspace. Joseph A. Silva traveled from his East Providence home to Portsmouth, N.H., to meet a woman he had wooed on the popular online dating site match.com.

But he was hardly a gentleman, according to authorities.

Silva, 31, pleaded not guilty yesterday to a charge of aggravated felonious sexual assault. Prosecutors said that he drugged the woman's drink and raped her.

Silva was held yesterday in Rockingham County Jail after failing to post $25,000 cash bail. He is scheduled to appear on Dec. 8 in Portsmouth District Court for a probable cause hearing. The charge carries a minimum sentence of seven years imprisonment upon conviction.

Portsmouth police say they believe Silva may have victimized other women he met online. They released a photo of him and asked for anyone with information on his activities to come forward.

"Perhaps he used other online dating services," said Portsmouth Police Captain Janet Champlin. "We want to make sure there aren't other victims."

The alleged rape occurred in August, and the woman, whose name is being withheld by police, reported it to authorities within days. Police then spent months obtaining evidence in the case, including using legal means to obtain member information and e-mails from the dating site match.com, which has privacy policies protecting its members. Those policies resulted in the four-month lag before Silva's arrest.

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