Surprising find in Eyewitness News matchmaker mission

(2/26/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- About two weeks ago, we embarked on a matchmaking mission on Eyewitness News This Morning.

The goal was to set up eligible bachelors and bacherlorettes in Houston who were looking for love. But during that contest, we discovered something else; something that may make you think twice about the people you meet because among the singles was a sex offender.

In a room full of people, could you spot an admitted rapist? Eliza Ramirez sat right next to him.

"I would never have guessed it," she said. "Never, ever guessed it, not in a million years."

This is a story about the dark side of people you may never know about unless you dig.

"No matter how good something seems, you still need to check it out," said Harriet Ellis, who also participated in our Matchmaker idea.

Meet Dean Duff, at first the eligible bachelor.

"Hi, my name is Dean," he said on his taped interview. "I'm 37 years old. What I'm looking from this experience is to meet new and exciting people and a woman who likes to have fun."

And then the sex offender.

"Are you the same Dean Duff who's a registered sex offender?" we asked him later after we did some checking.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied.

We first met Dean on February 8. In good faith, we invited him to our studios along with 29 other single men and women for a chance to become finalists in our morning Matchmaker blind date contest. Before being considered, they had to sign a nine-page release. Part of it stated that he or she had not been convicted of anything more serious than a traffic violation. Dean Duff's signature was on the back page of his.

"Did you think we would not check?" we asked him.

It didn't take long for us to find out the whole story. A quick check of the Texas sex offender registry and there he is -- Larry Dean Duff, a sex offender. We dug deeper and obtained the police report from the crime. Thirteen years ago, he met a woman at the Longhorn night club in northwest Houston, drove her to a dead end road in Galena Park and sexually assaulted her. Retired Lieutenant Joe Price worked the case back in 1994. He still remembers it.

"Just kicked her out of the car on a lonely dump road in Galena Park," he said.

Dean pleaded guilty to rape, got five years probation, deferred adjudication and a lifetime on the sex offender registry. He was technically not convicted, so he technically did not lie on his legal release -- a good thing. Lying, he told us during his contest audition, is one of his pet peeves.

Still, we went back to him to ask the one question you may be wondering. Why?

"Why would you want to be a part of a matchmaker contest if that's the case?" we asked.

"I was trying to meet new people," he answered.

"Did you not think it was inappropriate?"

"No, ma'am."

Despite his plea, Dean insists he's not guilty.

"I didn't do anything bad," he said. "I met somebody at a bar. We were both drinking and had consensual sex and they changed their mind afterwards."

Consensual? The victim has since moved out of Texas. We spoke to her by phone.

"I was begging him, please don't do this. Please don't do this to me," she said. "I said do not do this to me and he just kept on. I kept fighting. I told him I had kids and it did not matter to him."

She was shocked to find out Dean was seeking a blind date at a TV station of all places.

"Why didn't you just leave?" we asked him.

"I don't know," he answered. "Just trying to make new friends."

And he did...

"What if some of these women found out you were on the sex offender registry?" we asked.

"Uh, most people I meet, I tell them about it."

But he didn't tell any of the women in his group that night. Eliza feels betrayed but says she's learned a valuable lesson.

"Definitely a background check, because I don't think now it's safe without it," she said.

When we learned of Dean Duff's criminal background, we felt ethically responsible to call all the women in his matchmaker group to let them know. We should also mention that we gave Dean Duff another opportunity to sit down with us to answer our questions, but he declined.

If you're wondering just how you conduct a background check on someone you just met, tune in today on Eyewitness News at 4pm. Consumer Reporter Jeff Ehling will walk you through it, step by step.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)

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