Judge tosses lawsuit against dating app by New Jersey man charged with sex with 13-year-old

A judge has ruled against a southern New Jersey man who sued a mobile dating app after he was arrested for having sex with a 13-year-old boy.

William Saponaro Jr. was arrested in 2012 after an encounter involving him, the 13-year-old boy and another man who knew Saponaro and had met the boy on the Grindr app.

Saponaro sued Grindr for negligence and infliction of emotional distress, saying it allowed the boy to subscribe to it and present himself as being over the age of consent.

A federal judge in Camden dismissed the lawsuit in an opinion published Friday. The judge ruled federal law protects online service providers from being held liable for content users post on their sites.

Saponaro faces charges of sexual assault and child endangerment.