The students said they are not guilty of the ‘To Catch a Predator’ trend of targeting the military
Five students at a Massachusetts Christian college made their first court appearance Thursday accused of using a dating app to lure an Army soldier into their camp and attacking a TikTok trend to “catch a predator.”
Assumption University students were arraigned in Paper Circuit Court on conspiracy and kidnapping charges. Easton Randall, 19, entered a not guilty plea. Kevin Carroll, 18; Isabella Trudeau, 18; Joaquin Smith, 18; and Kelsey Brainard, 18, whose Tinder account was used to lure a 22-year-old Army soldier.
He is scheduled to appear again on March 28, according to online court records. A sixth grader has also been charged.
A relative of the victim told Fox News Digital that the 22-year-old was deployed to the Middle East shortly after the horrific incident.
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The unlikely man was at his grandmother’s funeral in Worcester on Oct. 1 before agreeing to meet Brainard on Tinder that night, he told police. The soldier later told Assumption University police that they were “trying to meet up” and that he “wanted to be with happy people after the funeral.”
According to messages he exchanged with Brainard on the app and shared with police and Brainard’s profile, which indicated she was 18, “there was no evidence to suggest that the victim was seeking sexual contact with underage girls,” and police said in charging documents obtained by Fox News Digital that “Tinder “Using as originally designed… to start a hook,” he wrote.
A “mass” of 25 to 30 people appeared minutes after the victim met Brainard, calling him a “rapist” who “liked to have sex with 17-year-old girls.” Before he was cornered, the victim was sitting next to Brainard watching a game in the student hall, and surveillance footage showed “there was a large amount of personal space between them” and Brainard was “laughing and smiling.”
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Surveillance footage shows the group surrounding the victim and preventing him from leaving around 10:30 p.m., police wrote. Although the victim was able to escape, he was chased by “people in plain sight who used their phones to film the persecution”.
Police said the trooper was punched in the back by a juvenile student, whose name was not released in court documents because of his age. Carroll then slammed the victim’s head into the car door, according to court documents, and students drove the victim’s vehicle out of the parking lot.
According to court documents, Carroll faces additional charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
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A few minutes later, the group can be seen on surveillance footage laughing and “high-fifiting” as they re-enter the building, police wrote.
Campus police learned of the incident after Brainard reported that “a lewd person had come to campus to meet an underage female.” She said she texted Randall, who “came down (to the lounge) to help a sex predator.”
Although she says she met the “creepy” guy on Tinder, she said, “He came[to campus]uninvited.”
Campus police were unable to locate the alleged predator on campus, but began reviewing security footage and interviewing students after being contacted by Worcester police about the alleged assault at Assump University.
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Further investigation showed that “a small group of the group” – the students are now facing criminal charges – “conspired with each other to lure the victim to the property and asked for help to “catch a predator” in group texts.
According to court documents, the purpose of the Tinder invitation was to imitate the Tik Tok fashion by luring a sexual predator to a location and physically assaulting him or calling the police.
The accused students were all sitting together when Brainard sent Tinder messages back and forth with the victim “when the idea of Catch a Predator came to mind,” Randall later told police.
“They all came up with ideas and agreed to what was sent to (the victim) and … others became aware of the illegal scheme and joined the conspiracy.”
Randall told campus police, “Getting a Hunter on Tik Tok was a big deal at the time, but this got out of hand and it got bad,” police wrote.
When the victim arrived on campus, one of the men sent them a group chat message saying simply, “They’re hiring a predator,” sparking a “rabid” response from students, the court heard. Records.
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Brainard downplayed her responsibility, records show, saying she “didn’t know what was going to happen” when confronted by campus police about the falsehood. But police wrote that she was seen laughing and smiling on surveillance footage as the male students landed on Tinder matches.
Attorneys representing the six students did not return Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.