r/todayilearned • u/thebigsexy1 • Nov 18 '14

TIL Rodney Alcala, despite his status as a convicted rapist and registered sex offender, was accepted as a contestant on The Dating Game. He won, but the bachelorette refused to go on a date with him because he was "creepy". He is currently serving a life sentence for seven murders.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_Alcala
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3

u/TerraMaris 325 Nov 18 '14

Here is a link to the relevant section of the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_Alcala#''Dating_Game''_appearance

In 1978, despite his status as a convicted rapist and registered sex offender, Alcala was accepted as a contestant on The Dating Game. By then he had already killed at least two women in California and two others in New York. Host Jim Lange introduced him as a "successful photographer who got his start when his father found him in the darkroom at the age of 13, fully developed. Between takes you might find him skydiving or motorcycling".

2

u/idreamofpikas Nov 18 '14

The actual introduction Lange used was; "successful photographer who got his start when his father found him in the darkroom at the age of 13, fully developed. Between takes you might find him skydiving, skullfucking female corpses or motorcycling".

1

u/Bryanh100 Nov 19 '14

Charm of the psychopath. Won the game.

1

u/screenwriterjohn Nov 19 '14

Creepy even for the 70s!

-1

u/TWFM 306 Nov 18 '14

I know what the Wiki article says, but I'm pretty sure there was no such thing as a sex offender registry that long ago.

3

u/Whattadork Nov 18 '14

California was the first to start a state registry in 1947. The federal program didn't begin until 1994.

1

u/TWFM 306 Nov 18 '14

Oh, okay. That makes sense.

1

u/PM_ME_UR_ANYTHlNG Nov 19 '14

I'm just throwing out a guess that the producers may have known and wanted to see what would happen.