Six Massachusetts college students have been charged with luring an active-duty military member to campus under false pretense that he was a sexual predator, where a group of more than 20 people followed and assaulted him, authorities said.
One of the students charged told police the plot was modeled after NBC’s canceled show “To Catch a Predator,” in which adults pose as minors to prey on them over three seasons. He said the aim was to catch him using decoys and undercover cameras. According to the statement of facts of the case.
“Catching predators is a big thing on TikTok right now,” the fact sheet quotes student Easton Randall, 19, as saying.
Last month, 11 Illinois teens were charged in a similar incident, which authorities in Mount Prospect, northwest of Chicago, blamed on a “viral social media trend.”
City police did not provide additional details about the trend in a statement at the time. Police Chief Michael Eterno told parents: “Please use this incident as an opportunity to have a conversation with your teens about the seriousness of actively participating in these types of trends seen on social media. I want it.”
At Assumption College, a private Catholic college in Worcester where the six people accused in the conspiracy were students, there was “absolutely no” evidence that the male students accused of being predators were soliciting sex with minors. , the statement said.
Still, he was chased by what the statement described as a “mob” of 25 to 30 people, some of whom were recording the chase — and accused of “systematic abuse and false imprisonment.” He was caught up in a conspiracy carried out by a group of six people, including the allegation. , physical assault, assault, and possible character assassination,” said University Police Sgt.
Charged with kidnapping and conspiracy
The statement identified one of the students as a juvenile, but that charge was not included in the criminal complaint filed last month. Randall and five other students were charged with kidnapping and conspiracy, according to the complaint.
Two other students were also charged with additional crimes. Kelsey Brainard, 18, was charged with menacing. Kevin Carroll, 18, was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
Messages left with attorneys for Carroll and the other defendant were not returned. Randall’s relatives declined to comment. A message left with another defendant listed as a relative’s phone number was not returned, and no message was sent to a profile with Brainard’s name via Facebook.
Assumption University President Greg Weiner said in a statement that the conduct described in the court complaint is “abhorrent and contrary to Assumption University’s mission and values.” Under all circumstances, we expect our students to use sound judgment and uphold the principles of respect, responsibility, and character that define our community. ”
Weiner said once the incident was reported, the school’s Department of Public Safety investigated the allegations and filed criminal charges.
“This situation is particularly disturbing because the victim is an active military member,” he said. “His service reminds us of the sacrifices made by those who protect our freedoms, including the opportunity to receive a college education.”
The victim’s father told NBC News over the phone that his son was 22 years old. Officials did not say which military unit his son was in, but said he appeared to be carrying out his mission.
“They’re doing their due diligence, but these kids seem to have hanged themselves on their own terms,” he said.
To attend a funeral at home
The Oct. 1 incident was first reported to university officials the next day, when Brainard said a “creepy” Tinder app contact came to campus to meet with a 17-year-old girl, according to the statement of facts. It is said that it was done. She texted her friend Randall, and Randall chased the person away, according to the statement.
In a subsequent interview with campus police, Brainard repeated this claim and said he was the victim of an unsolicited contact, according to the statement.
Campus authorities were then connected to the member by the Worcester Police Department, who provided a very different explanation.
He told campus police he had returned home to attend his grandmother’s funeral and started texting someone on Tinder because he “just wanted to be around happy people,” according to the statement.
He told police that he and Brainard had been planning a relationship and that Brainard had invited them to meet at the university’s alumni hall, according to the statement.
attacked by a mob
He was in the building for several minutes, the statement said, when “a group of people came out of nowhere and started calling him a pedophile and accusing him of liking 17-year-old girls.” .
“He was unable to leave as he was grabbed and stopped from leaving,” the statement said. “Subject reported that he was able to escape and ran up a flight of stairs while being chased by a group of over 25 people.”
The man told police he was chased to his car, punched in the head and had the car door slammed against him, the statement said. He called police after he was able to flee campus, the statement said.
A review of the campus security video detailed in the statement confirmed the victim’s account. The statement said the students are seen on video accusing the victim of being a sexual predator, and minutes later one of the defendants is seen slamming the man’s car door on his head before chasing him and high-fiving him. The situation was recorded. .
A review of the Tinder messages revealed that the trooper believed he was meeting an 18-year-old boy, the statement said. The woman’s profile indicated she was 18 years old. When officers asked Brainard where the information about the underage girl came from, “she was unable to answer,” the statement added.
“Call the police or kick the police.”
Randall told authorities that six students, who learned that Brainard was exchanging messages with the victim, came up with the idea to lure him to campus.
“He reported that it was like the Chris Hansen video that says, ‘If you catch a predator, call the police or kick their butt,'” the host of “To Catch a Predator.” Referring to the statement, the statement said:
The show, which aired from 2004 to 2007, used hidden cameras and people posing as minors in online chat rooms to lure alleged looters into homes where Hansen confronted them. . This program did not condone or contain violence.
After a Texas prosecutor who was one of the show’s targets died by suicide, his family sued the agency for $105 million in 2007. NBC settled the following year for an undisclosed amount, saying the matter was “amicably resolved.”
In an interview with campus police, Randall said he and several others had made suggestions about what Brainard should say in his message to service members, according to the statement. After luring him to campus, they used an alumni group chat to “rally” others at the university, according to the statement. The move prompted an “enthusiastic reaction” from dozens of people attending the event.
Randall then admitted to authorities that “things got out of hand and things got worse,” the statement said.
