Mother of abused children urges dating apps to stop advising users to disclose they are parents

Georgina Tuohey was groomed by boxing coach Brendan Cornally, who then repeatedly raped and abused her children. Picture: Moya Nolan

A woman whose children were abused by her ex-boyfriend has called on dating apps to stop advising parents to disclose that they have children after a study found that 11% of men surveyed using dating apps have paedophilic thoughts.

Georgina Tuohey, who was groomed by boxing coach Brendan Cornally, who then repeatedly raped and abused her children, said that legal controls must be introduced to make dating apps safer for vulnerable users.

Single parents are often lonely and easy to target and manipulate through online dating sites, she said.

“These mothers on these dating apps are like sitting bait, and the children are the prize for these pedophillic men who go on the sites to source children,” Ms Tuohey said.

“And for a dating app to advise a mother to say they have children, they’re then just sitting ducks waiting for a shark to come and take them.

“We talk about dating quite innocently, with a giggle and a friend saying ‘oh let's put up a profile, I think it's time you got out there again.’ 

"And people should get out there and enjoy their life.

“But my God, you never know what you're stepping into when you go on them."

Brendan Cornally, 51, was sentenced last month to 17 and a half years for the rape and sexual assault of her two sons and the sexual assault of her daughter.

“He knew what to say, he knew what to do to develop that relationship, all with the intention of getting closer to my children. 

"And that is exactly what those dating apps do — they give an entry into a vulnerable home.

“I'm a smart lady and I did not know I was being groomed. I did not know the harm that my poor children were at the peril of.

Dating apps should have legal responsibility to ensure that ID checks are more stringent and users should be Garda vetted, Ms Tuohey said.

“If companies are creating a platform that vulnerable people use, they need to be protected.” 

She called for more awareness around online safety.

“When 11% of male dating app users had pedophilic tendencies [according to a recent  Childlight Global Child Safety Institute study], that should be promoted as a danger,” Ms Tuohey said.

“So if you're coming on these sites you are exposing yourself potentially to this. 

"If you buy a pack of cigarettes they have pictures of the harm they can do.

“But dating sites just show good-looking, happy people, but don’t show any of the darkness lurking behind the reality.” 

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A new study found that sexual predators may target single mothers on online dating apps and groom them for access to their children.

The new research by the Childlight Global Child Safety Institute, hosted by the University of Edinburgh and University of New South Wales, found that two thirds of men who have sexually offended against children use dating sites, with many using these apps daily.

Men who sexually offend against children are nearly four times more likely to use dating sites than non-offenders, the research found, prompting calls for stronger regulation of online dating apps, now used by some 381m people.

And 11.5% of men surveyed admitted having sexual feelings towards children, while 11% confessed to sexual offences against minors.

Most dating apps have inadequate identity checks for users and the report’s authors have called for ID checks and AI tools to detect predatory behaviour to make these platforms safer.

The research findings are based on a survey of about 5,000 men in the UK, the US, and Australia.