A student at a Catholic university in Massachusetts used the popular dating app to lure men to campus with the TikTok social media trend “To Catch a Predator,” police said. A mob of up to 30 people beat the victims, according to court documents.
Five Assumption University students were arrested and charged in connection with the alleged assault.
“This got out of hand and got worse.”
Joaquin Smith, Isabella Trudeau, Kevin Carroll, Kelsey Brainard and Easton Randall were each charged with kidnapping and conspiracy. Carroll is also charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Brainard was charged with an additional count of witness intimidation.
Brainard, an 18-year-old student at the school, befriended a 22-year-old man on the dating app Tinder. Police reported that the conversation turned sexual and Brainard announced he had invited the unnamed man to the Assumption campus. WCVB-TV.
On October 1, the man arrived on campus to meet Brainard.
Surveillance video shows Brainard letting the man into the reunion hall, and charging documents say the video shows him running out a few minutes later. According to reports, the alleged victim was seen on video running away from a group of students chasing him with his mobile phone and recording the incident.
“It appears that the group chasing (the alleged victim) was either staged or waiting for him to arrive,” police said. boston.com. “A few minutes later, the group returned and was seen laughing and high-fiving each other, including Mr. Brainerd.”
According to a police report filed in Worcester District Court, 25 to 30 people “came out of nowhere and called him a pedophile and accused him of liking having sex with 17-year-old girls.” “I started doing it.”
“The subject reported that he was able to escape and ran up the stairs while being chased by a group of over 25 people,” police said. said.
The man fled to his car, but the mob caught up with him, punching and kicking him and repeatedly slamming his head into the driver's side door.
Worcester Police Department then received a report from the alleged victim who said he was on campus to meet the girl but was then attacked by a “mob.”
Police said Brainard initially told police that a “creepy” man had come to campus uninvited and told a resident assistant that the man was trying to meet an underage girl. That's what it means.
Officers said they examined conversations on the dating app Tinder and found no evidence the man was seeking to meet an underage girl.
“The purpose of the Tinder invite was to simulate the TikTok trend of luring sexual predators to a location and then physically assaulting them or reporting them to the police.”
According to court documents, campus surveillance video showed Brainard leading the man to a basement lounge where they watched television together.
Investigators said Brainard was seen on video laughing and smiling when the victim arrived at the hall and “did not appear to be frightened or in any way uncomfortable.” That's what it means.
“Once I get it The video shows that the report filed by Ms. Brainerd was false and fabricated, that her victim was fraudulently reported in an attempt to mislead police into believing a sexual predator was on campus, and that the victim was sexually assaulted. It has been determined that this was done to hide the fact that he was lured to campus to be arrested as a criminal. A group of students who had no legal authority to do so,” the police report states.
Police added: “The purpose of the Tinder invite was to simulate the TikTok trend of luring sex offenders to a location and then physically assaulting them or reporting them to the police.” Ta.
Police interviewed another student who mentioned the pedophile reality show “To Catch a Predator,” hosted by Chris Hansen.
Randall, another charged student, told police the group was trying to imitate the social media trend TikTok, which recreates the show's premise, but “things got out of hand and things got worse.” It is said that
Police said the six students were directly responsible for the “intentional and systematic abuse, false imprisonment, physical assault and battery, and possible character assassination” of the alleged victim.
Assumption University released the following statement: called It said the students' actions were “abhorrent and contrary to Assumption University's mission and values.”
The university also said: “This incident highlights the real harm that social media can do when it encourages dangerous and irresponsible behavior.”
The students are scheduled to be arraigned on January 16th.
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