College Students Charged with Kidnapping Military Service Member in TikTok-Inspired ‘To Catch a Predator’ Scheme

Six New England college students have been charged with kidn@pping for allegedly using a dating app to lure an active-duty service member to their campus, where they ambushed him as part of To Catch a Predator TikTok-inspired plot The teenage students from Assumption University appeared before a judge on Thursday during their arraignment for conspiracy and kidnapping charges. Kelsy Brainard, 18, Easton Randall, 19, Kevin Carroll, 18, Isabella Trudeau, 18, and Joaquin Smith, 18, are accused of using Brainards Tinder account to lure their 22-year-old victim to the private Roman Catholic school, 45 miles west of Boston, in October. A sixth student, a minor, was arraigned in juvenile court. The victim told police he was in the area for his grandmothers funeral and was on the dating app because he just wanted to be around people that were happy.’ Brainard is accused of walking the unidentified service member down to a basement lounge, where a group of students came out and allegedly grabbed their victim and stopped him from leaving. A group of people came out of nowhere and started calling him a pedophile, the Associated Press reported, citing a campus police report. The flock of students accused the soldier of wanting to have sx with 17-year-old girls. The serviceman broke free from the basement but was allegedly chased back to his car by approximately 25 people, most of whom recorded the chase with their phones. One student reportedly punched the man in the head. The victim fled before calling the cops to report the assault. Brainard also filed a police report claiming there was a sexual predator on campus and she was frightened. She also alleged that one of her male friends chased the uninvited guest. Officials used surveillance footage to confirm the man was invited inside by Brainard before he was chased out of the building by a group of students with their phones out. The students were caught on camera laughing and high-fiving with each other in what officials called a deliberately staged event. Investigators used the cellphone videos that had circulated online to disprove all the students claims. Brainards Tinder profile indicated she was 18 and none of the messages proved the man wanted to have sx with any minors. Randall told police the group was inspired to create the disturbing plot after seeing the catch a predator trend on social media. Officials discovered that a smaller group of students were the ones who allegedly plotted the catch a predator luring, WWLP reported. The five students face charges of conspiracy and kidnapping. Brainard was handed an additional charge for witness intimidation while Carrol was slapped with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Carrol was identified as the student who was accused of slamming the mans head into the car door. The minor, who is known by police, was accused by the soldier as the one who punched him. Were just looking forward to having the process play out, Brainards lawyer, Christopher Todd, said after the hearing. Trudeaus lawyer said she is innocent and filed a motion to dismiss her case because of a lack of evidence. All five adult students entered not-guilty pleas. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for March 28.The post College students charged with kidn@pping military service member in To Catch a Predator TikTok-inspiredplot appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.