Hazards of Online Dating

Sometimes you're the windshield; others, you're the bug.

Hannah Hardy recently found out how the bugs feel.

The metro Lousville, Kentucky woman apparently felt very strongly about being dumped by a man she'd met through an online dating website. Her actions probably speak volumes about why the unidentified man ended their short relationship.

The 28-year-old Hardy, after going to the man's apartment several times and finally discovering he no longer resided there, believed she had happened upon the car owned by the man who'd jilted her. Hardy broke out four of the vehicle's windows and then scratched her name into the paint on the driver's door, causing an estimated $6,000 in damage. There was one problem, though.

Wrong car.

Hardy, who had previously been arrested for kicking in the door of an apartment in the building in which she thought the man currently lived, was arrested and jailed.

Hardy's book-in photo reinforces an old adage: never trust a woman with pencil-thin eyebrows.

You Can't Even Trust Santa Anymore

William McKinlay, a 56-year-old Philadelphia resident, has been playing Santa Claus during the Christmas season for several years at a department store in that city. The balding, rotund man was perfect for the part, right down to his long gray/white beard.

He will not be making any repeat appearances.

Referring to himself as 'dirty old Santa', McKinlay posted an online ad saying that he was looking for a 'young 'un' with which to have sex. An extended, sexually-explicit electronic conversation ensued with a fourteen-year-old girl during which McKinlay stated that he wanted to teach the girl all about sex; that girl turned out to be Officer Tim Kearney of the Ridley Township Police Department, who called himself 'Stephanie' during their exchange.

McKinlay made arrangements to meet 'Stephanie' at a neighborhood ice cream shop, telling her to wear a sleeveless T-shirt, shorts and tennis shoes...and nothing else. When McKinlay arrived, he was arrested without incident and charged with attempted statutory sexual assault and related charges.

Unfortunately, today's electronic social media platforms make it very easy for predators such as McKinlay to prey upon the young; my hat is off to those tireless men and women who arrest and prosecute these soul-less, filthy vermin and put them where they belong: in prison for a very long time.

                                                                   William McKinlay