Orem man booked on rape charges

OREM — Orem police have arrested a man employed as a corrections officer at the Utah State Prison in connection with the reported rape of woman who claimed to have met the man on an LDS-oriented Web site for singles.

Sean A. Register, 33, Orem, was arrested at the prison late Tuesday night and booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation of rape and aggravated sexual assault. He has been placed on administrative leave while the case is being investigated, said a prison spokesman.

Orem police spokesman Doug Edwards said the fact that the man accused is a corrections officer is disturbing.

"You know, I think for everybody, there's an element of public trust," Edwards said. "And I think that law enforcement here in Utah, particularly, does a good job of policing their own."

The alleged rape was reported Saturday morning by a 19-year-old Pleasant Grove woman who said she had corresponded with the man on the Internet periodically over a period of a few weeks prior to meeting him around 1 a.m. Saturday morning in a parking lot near 400 N. State in Orem. She reported being driven by the man to a nearby residence where she was subsequently raped.

The woman reported the incident to police later that morning, and investigators were able to conduct a rape kit. Detectives used information the woman provided about the man's online profile to determine his identity with assistance from employees of the Web site. Several LDS-oriented Web sites catering to singles carry disclaimers notifying users that their information may be released to law enforcement officials if requested.

Kevin Koger, vice-president of business development for LDS Singles On-line, said his company, while not involved in this case, goes to great lengths to ensure its clients' safety. He says his site encourages members to meet face to face in crowded public places.

"If you're alone and at their house or in a parking lot, that is not a safe situation; you have lost control of the situation," Koger said.

Edwards said the anonymity of meeting people online can be risky and that the woman probably thought she was safe because she met Register on an LDS-oriented Web site.

"You have really no way of knowing who you're talking to and what's on their mind," he said. "She thought she was probably dealing with somebody that had the same values that she did."

Mindy Woodhouse, sexual assault program coordinator for the Utah Valley Center for Women and Children in Crisis, said she sees more and more clients who have been raped by people they initially met online.