Charges dropped against Mass. college students in ‘Catch a Predator' TikTok trend

WORCESTER, Mass. (WWLP) – Kidnapping and conspiracy charges have been dismissed by a judge against five college students in Massachusetts in connection with allegedly plotting to lure a man onto their campus as part of a social media trend.
The Worcester County District Attorney's Office said that six teenage Assumption University students were charged with kidnapping and conspiracy following events that occurred in October 2024.
Worcester students in court for charges after TikTok plot 'to catch a predator' falsely accused man on Tinder
Court documents stated that on October 2, Assumption University Police reviewed an incident report made by 18-year-old Kelsy Brainard of Holyoke, a student at the college. Brainard said that a man came to campus and made her feel 'creepy,' and she contacted her friend, 20-year-old Easton Randall of Jericho, Vt., to chase him off campus.
Brainard stated in the report that she did not invite the man on campus and that he arrived uninvited the night of October 1. Police were unable to locate him. However, Worcester police officers were in contact with a man who requested assistance related to an incident that occurred at Assumption that night.
The 22-year-old man stated that he was in the area for a funeral and wanted to be around happy people, and was in contact with Brainard on Tinder. Brainard allegedly invited him onto campus, at which time she led him into the building where he was ambushed by a group of students.
The group allegedly began calling the man a pedophile who wanted to have sex with 17-year-old girls, and grabbed him to prevent him from leaving. The man stated that when he was able to run away, he was allegedly chased by about 25 people, who kicked his vehicle and punched him in the back of the head.
Campus footage was obtained showing Brainard leading the man into a campus building and then chasing him out with the group of students, all with their phones out. Police determined through interviews with the group that the incident was allegedly meant to simulate a TikTok fad of 'catching a predator.'
Six Assumption University students– Brainard, Randall, 18-year-old Kevin Carroll of Holden, 18-year-old Isabella Trudeau of Sterling, 19-year-old Joaquin Smith of West Haven, Conn., and an unnamed juvenile– were identified as the group involved in the plot.
The charges were dismissed on Wednesday against five of the students. It is not known at this time if the sixth student has had the charges dismissed, since their case is being handled in juvenile court. The students' lawyers had filed motions to dismiss the charges on the grounds that authorities lacked probable cause that crimes had been committed.
Brainard still faces one count of witness intimidation, and Carroll still faces one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for being the individual responsible for slamming the victim's head into his car door.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
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