‘This got out of hand and went bad,’ one of the defendant’s allegedly admitted to police. A group of Assumption University students are facing charges for kidnapping and beating soldier after luring him to campus using Tinder in a TikTok trend-inspired attack, emulating the TV series To Catch a Predator.
![[A university spokesperson has decried the alleged ‘abhorent’ attack]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/03/12/Assumption-University.jpg)
Kelsy Brainard, 18, a student of the $70,000-per-year Roman Catholic institution in Worcester, Massachusetts, allegedly invited the 22-year-old man to visit her at 10.30 p.m. on October 1 so they could “try and hook up,” police said. It was all part of a sting to “to simulate the TikTok fad of luring a sexual predator to a location and subsequently physically assaulting him or calling the police,” police said.
The man said he was surrounded by the group and initially unable to leave. As he fled to his car, the victim was chased by students brandishing their cell phones before allegedly being punched and having his head slammed in the car door, according to a police review of security footage.
The video allegedly showed the group laughing and high-fiving as they headed back towards the building, the report said. After the attack, the victim managed to drive away from the campus and call the police. Prior to the man’s arrival, student Easton Randall texted a group chat saying “come down here we’re catching a predator,” according to authorities.
