In Worcester, Massachusetts, five students from Assumption University faced court proceedings on Thursday for allegedly conspiring to lure a man from a dating app to their campus, subsequently intending to carry out an act similar to the TikTok “Catch a Predator” trend.
All five students, aged between 18 and 19, were arraigned on charges of conspiracy and kidnapping, entering not-guilty pleas during the hearing. They are scheduled to return to Worcester District Court on March 28 for a pre-trial discussion. Among the defendants are Kelsy Brainard (18), Easton Randall (19), Kevin Carroll (18), Isabella Trudeau (18), and Joaquin Smith (18). A sixth individual involved in the incident is facing separate proceedings in juvenile court.
According to police reports, the victim was targeted using Brainard’s Tinder profile to lure him onto the private Catholic university’s grounds. Brainard is additionally facing a charge related to witness intimidation. Another male defendant has also been accused of assault and battery involving a dangerous weapon.
The victim, a 22-year-old active-duty military member, had come to Worcester to attend his grandmother’s funeral in October and sought companionship to cope with the situation. After connecting with Brainard on Tinder, he agreed to meet her. However, upon arrival, he was led to a basement lounge where he was confronted by a group who accused him of being a pedophile, claiming he was interested in underage girls as young as 17.
The young man reported to police that after being cornered, he escaped but was pursued by a crowd of approximately 25 individuals to his vehicle. There, he was physically assaulted and injured before managing to drive away. Surveillance footage from the campus captured images of a large group of students filming the incident with their cell phones, laughing and celebrating the confrontation, which police characterized as a “deliberately staged event.” The investigation revealed no evidence supporting any allegations of the victim seeking inappropriate relationships.
Randall later informed the authorities that their group’s actions were motivated by the popular “catch a predator” theme circulating on TikTok. He revealed that they had collaboratively formulated a plan to lure the man via Tinder and notified their peers in a dorm chat about the supposed presence of a “predator” in the building.
After the event, Brainard falsely reported the victim to the police as a sexual predator, asserting that she felt threatened by him. She claimed he arrived uninvited and texted a male acquaintance to chase him away. However, the campus police conducted an extensive review of surveillance footage and discovered that videos portraying the incident were shared among students, leading to the conclusion that Brainard’s claims were unfounded.
Upon leaving the courtroom—where cameras were present—the defendants were prohibited from contacting the targeted individual. Brainard’s attorney, Christopher Todd, expressed his anticipation for the legal process, while Trudeau’s lawyer, Robert Iacovelli, declared her innocence and filed a motion for the dismissal of charges, arguing that there was insufficient probable cause against her. Other legal representatives for the defendants have not provided comments regarding their initial pleas.
