Searched man's name and don't like what it showed

[AngieFromStockport]

Met someone randomly and he seems nice. I thought we clicked. Wants to meet up.
I don't know much about him but he gave his name and the where he lives . I
'googled' him, and it returned a newspaper article, someone with that name from there was charged for an offence (attempted grooming of a minor). After that it went to crown court. Don't know any more.

The name isn't unusual but not 'John Smith' common. He might have a namesake, and I don't know if the ages matched. He might not have been living there then. If he was why hasn't he moved?
All I told him was my 'nickname' and roughly where I live so there's a limit to how much digging I want to do.

Do I just block him? I'm in shock.

You can find out via court records....

How do I do that please?

Quit while you’re ahead and block. It’s truly not worth the hassle.

It could be him or it could be someone else who has the same name as him.

Usually, paedophiles change their names by deed poll once they've got a record. Worth remembering that.

What if it was him? What if it wasn't. I'd commented that my full name was too googleable to disclose. Maybe he made up the name.

If someone asked me, I might say Rayner without thinking, not my real 'outing' one of Ralonszowitz. (I've NC for this)

Is this something that 'Clare's Law' would be able to help clarify?

My MIL is trapped in a violent marriage of several years now, would hate for you to pursue a wicked man and also be trapped. Please be careful

If you google my name and my city together, theres a person who was convicted of trying to murder her neighbour.... its not me btw!

My name isnt that common, however, its not that rare.

If you have havent met him as yet, I would just not take this any further just incase.

I have met him. We met randomly, chatted for about an hour, swapped numbers. He seemed really nice. Since then it's been messaging. No dick pics or anything dodgy, just chatting.

Yeah I would chalk this up to an unpleasant experience but as pp said, anyone with a record is legally able to change their name and move, so until they make it illegal for ex cons to do this none of us are really ever sure who is waiting.
Can you try to find people at local events or through friends who can vouch for people?

@FiveOne , Sarah's Law, but if I were to check, could ask about Clare's Law check too.

Wouldnt it be simpler to just move on, you do whatever check nothing shows up and you will just go along and happily have a relationship with him after that?

Instead of overthinking there must be other men out there

@PollyBell , I wasn't looking for anyone, but he seems really nice.
I only googled because I could, then 'Gulp! I wasn't expecting that'

Then I don't see why you would need to do a check simpler just to move on

I think it's a shame to pass on him just in case this might be him, but a lot more digging is needed.

You can get the court records, you know the approx date so search the local court or use ai and verify the results.

If you really liked him you could meet up for a date and get more info on him to do more thorough checks.

The deleted post mentioned a name that is quite ordinary but with 2 famous ones. I only used it as an example of what sort of ordinary it is.

Neither he or I live in Stockport - I just picked a comparable town at random.

@PollyBell , because it might not be him. If I'd not looked him up I'd be still thinking he was a pleasant, attractive and intelligent man.
If it is him, I could have met up with a sex offender.

Do the ages match too?

To me whether it is him or not is now irrelevant; I couldn't date a man I suspected of being a sex offender, no offense to him personally if he is innocent

Roughly. I'd say about 5 -10 years out.

I would send him what you found and then block him. There is no such thing as coincidence. Stop doing all these mental gymnastics with yourself.

Can you do a bit more digging? There are thousands of people with my name and it is not a common name. I think it’s fair if you are meeting people online to ask a little more before you meet again, a middle name, year of birth, ask if they have lived in that area for many years etc. I would be careful but people do have the same names. Does he have a linked in profile maybe? What does he do for a living? Is he on companies house etc.

Could you get someone to do a search for him on LinkedIn? He'll be able to see who's viewed his profile, so you want the help of someone who isn't obviously linked to you. Obviously not definitive proof of anything, but could help you to assess whether what he's telling you about himself stacks up (eg does his LinkedIn profile fit with what he's told you about his life?)

@PollyBell , imagine you went for a coffee, got chatting to a man for ages, went home, started messaging then you just because you could, you googled him.

@freshofdablock , no ,mental gymnastics. Just wondering whether to just block or to send a message saying 'sorry mate, googled you and don't want to keep in touch'.

That's exactly what you need to do- and send him the information you found.

You don't need to be polite with pedos.

Is it actually him?