Five students at the private college Assumption University face charges in relation to an incident in which they lured a man onto campus in a To Catch a Predator inspired TikTok scheme, despite him planning to meet with an adult, Boston.com reports.
Kelsy Brainard, 18, allegedly invited the man whom she matched on Tinder onto the Worcester campus after correctly indicating her age on October 1, 2024. An estimated 25 to 30 people reportedly “came out of nowhere and started calling him a pedophile and accusing that he liked having sex with 17-year-old girls" after the man arrived, according to a Worcester District Court police report.
Brainard, Joaquin Smith, Kevin Carroll, Easton Randall and Isabella Trudeau, along with a juvenile, were identified as conspirators and charged with kidnapping and conspiracy on December 4, according to court records. Brainard is also accused of witness intimidation, while Carroll is accused of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, having admitted to having slammed the man's head into the car door while speaking to police.
The man, whose age was not included in the police report, claimed he was surrounded by the crowd, grabbed and prohibited from leaving. The incident escalated after he was chased to his car and punched in the back of the head, at which point students allegedly slammed the car door on him and kicked his vehicle.
“It appears that the group chasing (the victim) was staged and/or awaiting his arrival,” police said via Boston.com. “A few minutes later, you see the group coming back in, laughing and high fiving with each other, Ms. Brainard is included in the group.”
Brainard initially claimed that the "creepy" man came to campus uninvited looking to meet an underage girl, however, a review of messages exchanged between the two proved the opposite.
“The goal of the Tinder invite was to simulate the TikTok fad of luring a sexual predator to a location and subsequently physically assaulting him or calling the police,” the report said, referencing the reality show To Catch a Predator hosted by Chris Hansen.