Would you date someone with a criminal record?

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AutumnalChick
@AutumnalChick
13 Years

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This topic came up on a different thread and it got me curious to see people's responses....

Let's say you met someone, online or in real life, and hit it off very well. You are really attracted to him/her and you think the feeling is mutual. You are excited to see where this new attraction will lead.

So, being the good little Scorpio you are, you do a google search to check out this person further ... and what should come up but a state Department of Corrections website with public information about your new love interest. Turns out, he/she has a bit of a checkered past, and the details are available online.

How do you proceed? Do you ask the person about this info? Do you wait and see if he/she will bring it up? Do you chalk it up as an immediate deal breaker and delete that person's contact information, never to speak again? Do you take the position that everyone is capable of change, and trust that this person has learned from past mistakes, and dismiss what you found?

What if the crime or crimes were serious, but happened a long time ago?

What kind of crimes or criminal activity would be okay or excusable in your book, and what would be a deal breaker?

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AutumnalChick
@AutumnalChick
13 Years

Comments: 0 · Posts: 384 · Topics: 17
Hee! It happened to my friend, not me. The guy in question had spent time in jail and had been convicted of arson, breaking and entering, DUI, larceny, and maybe a couple other things? He is now in his 40s and the crimes and jail time happened during his 20s. She freaked out, deleted his info, and contacted the online dating site where she met him to report him ...they didn't care, he still has a profile on that site.

I asked her why she didn't want to ask him about it and she said it didn't matter, if she got serious with him, in her line of work she could not be together with a convicted felon, especially someone whose info was so easily available through google. (she is a social worker who works for a hospital, and is the head of her department).

I would probably have asked him about it before writing him off altogether ... the larceny/ breaking and entering could be chalked up to youthful stupidity, and DUI is sometimes just a very bad, very stupid judgment call. (More than one DUI points to a problem though.) But ... arson ... that is kind of fucked up., I dunno if I could overlook someone intentionally burning someone's property and risking other people's safety in the process.

I think my "deal breaker" type of crimes would be violence against another person or animal, or any sort of sex offense, with the only possible exception being if it was a case of statuatory rape where he was 19 and she was 17 or whatever.