Have you ever Googled yourself and been shocked by what you found?
That's what happened to former Norwalk prosecutor Matthew C. Couloute, Jr., who claims his professional and personal life has suffered after jilted ex-girlfriends trashed him online.
Indeed, when you query Google for "Matt Couloute" or "Matthew C. Couloute," the first listing links to LiarsCheatersRUs.com, a site where men and women can write anonymous posts about bad dates or exes. There doesn't seem to be much of a moderating presence on the site, and users are apparently free to post just about anything, true or not.
The New York Post reported in August 2010 that Couloute filed a federal suit claiming "tortious interference" against two women, Amanda Ryncarz, whom Couloute dated briefly, and Stacey Blitsch, the mother of Couloute's son and the so-called "Roller Derby Queen" for the Bay City Bombers female roller derby team.
Though LiarsCheatersRUs is currently down, a cached version of the page bashing Couloute turns up one of the posts presumably written about him. The post reads,
Matthew C. Couloute Jr.
Lives in Jacksonville, FL/NY/NJ with his new "wife" that he married in City Hall just days after breaking up with his girlfriend of 2+ years. Cheated on ALL of ex-girlfriends. Lied and cheated his entire way through his 40 years of life. Uses people/his son/women to get what he wants then dumps you when he's done with them. Has no long term friends. He rents or finances everything and owns absolutely nothing.
This post was submitted by Anonymous.
Another anonymously written post, printed by the New York Post, says, "Our relationship didn’t last long, as I figured him out pretty quickly, but for others, BE FOREWARNED, HE'S SCUM. RUN FAR AWAY."
According to Fox News, Couloute's Google problem has cost him clients and proved a major obstacle to buying a home.
"Everyone asks me 'is this going to affect our business?'" Couloute said, per Fox. "[W]hen we [Couloute and his current wife] went to buy a house, we've had homeowners want to know what's going on with the story, how it's going to affect our ability to pay our mortgage"
"This [lawsuit] is about removing those posts [from the Internet]," Couloute wrote in a letter published by the Post in September 2010. His statement continues, in part:
The point is you should not be able to anonymously defame people on a Web site set up in Panama -- outside the laws of the United States -- and get away with it. [...] I can sign on to the site and post your name and write anything I want about you.
Celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred is representing both Ryncarz and Blitsch. Allred released statements from the two women in September 2011. Blitsch denied having posted on the website and said she wanted the suit against her dismissed.
"Matthew has forced me into court repeatedly over issues which I believe could have been resolved without spending time and money, which could have been better spent on our child," Blitsch said in her statement. "I've have had enough."
Ryncarz, in her statement, admitted to posting on LiarsCheatersRUs.com:
Over and over,Matthew led me to believe that we were going to get married. I was shocked when he called me on the telephone on October 3, 2010 to tell me that our relationship was not working, and I was even more shocked to learn that twelve days later, he married another woman. I think that Ishould be able to protect other women from being hurt the way that I was.
A cached LiarsCheatersRUS.com page blasting an "Amanda Ryncarz (Amanda Foley)" can also be found via Google. This is the first result that appears when Googling her name.