Match.com sent Jeffrey Epstein dating profiles of 18 women after he registered as sex offender

Recently released Department of Justice files show that Match.com sent Jeffrey Epstein dating profile matches years after he had registered as a sex offender.

An email dated July 5, 2012, congratulated the user “jeeproject” on receiving 18 matches and said additional matches would continue to be sent. The message included profile information for women across the United States, all listed as age 26 or younger. A separate email from July 4, 2012, welcomed Epstein to the platform, noting he was a man “seeking women.”

At the time, Match.com was owned by Match Group, which also operates other popular dating platforms such as OkCupid, Tinder, and Hinge.

Several years earlier, in 2008, Epstein had pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor and, as part of an agreement with prosecutors, was required to register as a sex offender. He served 13 months in a minimum-security facility.

In April 2011, Match.com publicly indicated it was beginning to implement tools to screen users against sex offender registries. According to reporting from the Associated Press at the time, then-CEO Mandy Ginsberg said improved technology and databases would allow the company to move forward with the initiative despite its limitations.

Today, Match Group’s website states that the company works to ban registered sex offenders and anyone suspected of sex trafficking from using its services.

In a statement to the New York Post, a Match Group spokesperson said the emails referenced in the DOJ files date back more than a decade, when safety tools and registry checks were more limited than they are now.

“Since then, both the tools available and Match Group’s own Trust & Safety practices have been significantly strengthened through improvements in technology and our continued investment in safety,” the spokesperson said.

Records also indicate Epstein paid just over $45 per month for the service in 2012. Additional documents show he created an OkCupid account in January 2011, shortly before Match Group acquired the platform.

It is not clear whether Epstein ever contacted or met any of the individuals he matched with through these dating services.

In 2019, federal prosecutors in New York charged Epstein with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors, alleging years of abuse involving underage girls. He died in jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial.

Authorities believe he victimized a large number of women and children.