How a dating app hookup landed a teen on the sex offender registry (Elkhart, Indiana)

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FOX 29 WFLX.com on August 4, 2015

ELKHART, Indiana (CNN) — Zach Anderson is 19 and a typical teenager. He’s into computers and wants to build a career around his love for electronics.

But those plans and any semblance of a normal life are for now out the window. Under court order, he can’t access the Internet, go to a mall or linger near a school or playground. His parents say because he has a 15-year-old brother, he can’t even live at home any longer.

Why? He’s been placed on the sex offender registry after a dating app hookup.

It began, Zach and his family say, when he went on a racy dating app called “Hot Or Not.”

He was at his home in Elkhart, Indiana, when he met the girl, who lived across the state line in nearby southern Michigan.

The girl told Zach she was 17, but she lied. She was only 14, and by having sex with her, Zach was committing a crime. He was arrested and convicted.