Teens lure, rob and beat men using fake Grindr profile

A group of young males have used a fake Grindr profile to target men for vicious homophobic attacks, emulating a TikTok “post and boast” trend of humiliating vulnerable people.

A gang of armed teenagers lured unsuspecting males on Grindr to Melbourne parks to film them being robbed and assaulted as part of two shocking “boast and post” homophobic attacks a day apart.

The young males, who all went to the same secondary college but can’t be identified due to their age, set up a fake profile on the same-sex dating site to find their targets while gathered having drinks at one of the boy’s homes on October 11.

Their plan was to emulate a concerning TikTok trend where people were posting videos of them robbing, humiliating and degrading vulnerable persons.

The first attack happened in a reserve in Donvale later that night about 9pm, with some of them going out again the next night to hit another target in Box Hill.

They then posted videos of their vicious assaults to social media.

The sickening details emerged as four of the teenagers involved pleaded guilty to crimes including armed robbery and violent disorder at a children’s court on Tuesday.

As videos of their assaults were played in court, the hoodlums hung their heads in shame, with one of their horrified parents having to turn away from watching it.

The teenagers lured unsuspecting males on Grindr to Melbourne parks to film them being robbed and assaulted. Picture: Supplied

The court heard in the first incident, one of the teens, 17, told his six mates, all wearing masks, to wait three minutes after he met the victim, before circling in.

They then set upon their terrified victim, who tried to run but was dragged to the ground and punched, kicked and stomped on the head and body.

“F*ggot. B*tch. Pedophile,” the youth shouted at their victim, before threatening they would poke his eyes out and kill him.

The teen who initially met him put a pair of scissors to his throat, while another boy was armed with a baseball bat.

The victim also believed he was struck with tree branches.

The gang fled after stealing his mobile phone, leaving him unconscious and covered in blood.

CCTV showed the victim lying unresponsive for up to three minutes before he was able to get up and seek help from a nearby resident.

He was taken to hospital suffering suspected broken ribs and cheekbone.

The Box Hill attack the following night was similar, only a different teen was the face of the meet-up and one of the group was armed with a machete, and another a knife.

The victim was put in a chokehold and was struggling to breathe while his phone was nicked.

He later discovered $2780 had been transferred out of his bank account.

Children’s Court president Jack Vandersteen was left bewildered on hearing of their crimes — and the fact they were from good, supportive families who had never come to the attention of police before.

The teens were following a TikTok trend of degrading vulnerable people. Picture: Alex Kent

“I just can’t work out why one would want to be involved in such a vicious attack,” Judge Vandersteen said.

“Why would you deliberately set out to trap and harm someone?

“It was cowardly. The persons lured there by a pretence and then was set upon by you. By the end of the day it’s one in, all in.”

He added: “What did you want to happen? Did you want him to be seriously injured? Did you want him to die? Over what? A very stupid idea.”

The court heard the youth were remorseful for their actions, and had written apology letters to their victims.

All four avoided convictions, with the two teens who were the face of the meets placed on community-based 12-month probation orders.

The two others, who played a lesser role, were put on 12-month good behaviour bonds.

In a statement by Victoria Police earlier this month, it was revealed more than 30 people had been arrested for such crimes since October last year.

“Victoria Police is committed to the safety and wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ communities and we take any report of this behaviour extremely seriously and investigate,” police said.

Grindr has also issued a warning to its users.