Skout dating app suspends service for teens amid rape allegations

A dating app for smartphones has suspended access for teen users after reports that it was used in a series of child rapes in the United States.The app called Skout, which was designed as a location-based dating service, made the announcement after a New York Times report said some of its users had been victimized."The safety of our community is our number one concern," founder and chief executive Christian Wiklund said on the company blog Tuesday.

Flirting app Skout has suspended its teen community, following a report of three child-rape allegations stemming from the use of its service.

As many as 26 tornadoes ripped through Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois and Iowa today, with Oklahoma City hardest hit.

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — As Steubenville teens Trent Mays and Ma’Lik Richmond broke into tears upon hearing their guilty verdicts, their fathers’ asked the victim’s family for forgiveness. “I’m sorry for what you all had to go through,” Richmond’s father, Nathaniel, said. “I hope somewhere in your hearts that you can forgive Trent and Ma’Lik for the pain they have caused your daughter.” Mays’ father also apologized. “We’re sorry for putting everybody through this…Ma’Lik’s family, the community, the school, everybody else.”

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Teenagers are a good measure of what's "cool." Observing which apps they use and how they interact with technology can help the rest of us spot budding trends.  And lately it seems teens have grown tired of Facebook.

App.net, the social network that launched last year as a subscription-only and ad-free alternative to Twitter, will start accepting members who haven’t paid a dime.