I feel for your main character - its harder now than ever before to make a new start. The internet makes it possible for to track down almost everything in the public domain about anyone - and a lot of stuff in the private world. I know of employers who have greeted people they're interviewing for jobs, for example, by greeting them by their "anonymous" online email addresses and names. Basically, everything we do now follows us forever. I think many of us are going to have experiences like your main character for much, much more minor things as the years drag on - or we, as a society, are going to have to come to terms with the fact that everyone has done stuff that they're not proud of.

Johnny Cash covers a similar theme in this song (penned by Elvis Costello):