Five Massachusetts college students have been charged with luring a man onto Assumption University's campus in a plot inspired by the TV show “To Catch a Predator” and the TikTok trend.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Worcester District Court on Dec. 12, students chased a man from a campus building after he had been lured by a student on the dating app Tindr in hopes of meeting an adult. He was said to have been part of a large group. 4.
Campus police at Assumption College, a small Catholic school in Worcester, say in a complaint that they stopped the group from exiting the student lounge after accusing the man of being a sex offender, and then stopped the group from leaving the student lounge. He said the recording was part of a “deliberately staged event.” ”
According to police, two students assaulted the man.
Police said there was no indication that the man was trying to meet with underage girls, and that the woman who invited him to campus, Kelsey Brainard, 18, listed herself as 18 on her Tindr profile. . Police did not release the man's age.
Video of the Oct. 1 incident, which was shared with students and seen by police, shows the man playing baseball with Brainard on a couch in the student lounge minutes after arriving on campus, police said. He was said to have been watching the game. and that there was “enough personal space between them.”
Suddenly, a large group of students emerged from hiding, according to the complaint. Police said the students accused him of being a “sex offender” and grabbed him to prevent him from leaving the room.
The man ran away, and as a group of about 25 people chased him, the man, who is not named in court documents because he is a minor, punched him in the back of the head. When the man arrived at his car, another student slammed the car door into him. It is unclear whether the man was injured or received medical treatment.
According to police, the group of students appeared to have taken out cellphones and recorded the incident. Police also reviewed campus surveillance camera footage and interviewed students as part of the investigation.
“A few minutes later, the group returned and was seen laughing and high-fiving,” police said.
One of the students, Easton Randall, 19, told police that the students were inspired by “To Catch a Predator” and other popular videos on social media, according to the complaint. The group also said it was trying to replicate the TikTok trend where people lure sexual predators to a location and either assault them or report them to the police.
NBC's hit series “To Catch a Predator” ran from 2004 to 2008 and was about a sting operation in which men are lured through online chat rooms to homes where they believe they are meeting teenagers for sex. We have featured.
The show's host, Chris Hansen, was scheduled to confront the men before they were arrested and ambushed by a camera crew.
Some criticized the show because of NBC's ties to police and advocacy groups that orchestrated the sting. Questions have also been raised about the value and ethics of sensationalizing sting operations targeting potential sex offenders.
A man committed suicide while police and photographers entered his home. NBC reached a settlement in 2008 after the man's family filed a $108 million lawsuit against the station.
Assumption University police said in a complaint that the plan was devised by a “core group” of six students, five of whom are charged with kidnapping and conspiracy; They include Randall, Isabella Trudeau, 18, and Joaquin Smith, he said. 18.
Brainard was charged with menacing and Kevin Carroll, 18, was charged with assault and assault with a deadly weapon. According to the criminal complaint, Carroll told police he hit the victim's head against the car door, but did not mention the underage student.
Carroll's attorney did not respond to a request for comment Sunday. The other four defendants do not have attorneys listed on the court list and could not be reached for comment.
Assumption University President Greg Weiner said in a statement that the conduct described by police was “abhorrent and contrary to Assumption University's mission and values.”
The university's Department of Public Safety said it immediately launched an investigation.
“This situation is particularly disturbing because the victim is an active military member,” the statement said. “His service reminds us of the sacrifices made by those who protect our freedoms, including the opportunity to receive a college education.”
The students are scheduled to appear in court on January 16th.
