By Perry Duffin
Gangs of teenagers are using dating apps to lure, bash and rob men in Sydney parks before forcing them to falsely “confess” to being paedophiles on social media.
Police and LGBTQ groups say the wave of homophobic crimes is a sickening throwback to the dark days of Sydney’s gay hate attacks.
Teen gangs, some arrested in terror raids, have been luring gay men to parks around Sydney, attacking and filming false confessions to silence their victims.Credit:
NSW Police has since January run multiple strike forces and investigations into the assaults across the city’s northern beaches, western and south-western suburbs.
In each case, lone male victims agreed to meet in public parks with someone from a dating app but were confronted by multiple teenagers.
Screenshot showing a victim laying on the ground.
The teenagers taunt, beat and rob their victims, sometimes using weapons. Some victims have been forced to confess to being paedophiles to stop the attacks.
Investigators soon discovered videos were being posted to TikTok and Instagram accounts which purport to be part of a trend known as “pedo hunting”.
Screenshots of videos, obtained by the Herald, show victims on the ground or bloodied hands shared on an Instagram account called “pedohunting_syd”.
The account has been removed.
Police established Strike Force Section in April after a wave of suspected hate crime robberies around Auburn, Burwood, Campbelltown and the Sydney CBD.
It began with an attack on a 16-year-old boy in a Bradbury park on April 2.
Five days later, four males in a car followed a 21-year-old through Raw Square in Auburn asking if he was gay or Muslim.
Suspected hate crime attacks by youth gangs
April 2: Attack in Apex Park, Bradbury
April 2: Attack in Campbelltown
April 7: Attack in Raw Square, Auburn
April 7: Attack in Hurlstone Park
April 7: Attack in Strathfield
August 24: Attack on King Georges Rd, Wiley Park
September 23: Knifepoint robbery and attack by gang in Wiley Park
October 19: Attack in Guildford Park, Guildford
October 21: Attack in Koobilya Park, Seaforth
October 26: Attack foiled by police at Wollongong train station
November 11: Teacher harassed by youth gang at Belmore after being spotted on Grindr
The four teenagers attacked and robbed the man and his friend.
One week later, a 16-year-old boy allegedly marched into the congregation of a hardline Christian church in Wakeley and repeatedly stabbed firebrand preacher Mar Mari Emmanuel.
Extremist material was found on the boy’s phone and he and six of his friends were ultimately charged with terror offences after counter-terror police picked apart their group chats.
Teenagers arrested in a counter-terrorism raid in April following the stabbing of a bishop in Sydney’s west. Investigators later allegedly found evidence linking the same group of young men to gay hate crime assaults. Credit: NSW Police
But investigators allegedly found evidence members of the same group had also been involved in hate crime attacks across the city’s west and inner west. The group had allegedly shouted slurs and threats against multiple victims.
At least five boys, aged 14 to 17 and allegedly linked to the terror group, were charged for the assaults and robberies but also with “corporal violence” and possessing unauthorised pistols.
Another squad, Strike Force Dividing, had been making arrests over similar attacks in the northern beaches.
An image using “missions passed” and iconography from the game Grand Theft Auto uploaded after one bashing attack.
Dividing has charged 14 youths over a number of assaults and extortions, including an attack on a 47-year-old man in North Curl Curl in January and a 68-year-old man in Seaforth in October.
In both cases, the men organised to meet with a consenting adult but were bashed and robbed.
Dividing intercepted one gang, allegedly led by a 21-year-old man, while on their way to an attack, police said.
A 32-year-old man was bashed and robbed by the group after organising to meet in Guildford Park in October.
Detectives learnt the gang was planning another meeting near Wollongong the following weekend.
Police found the ringleader, an 18-year-old and two more juveniles as they travelled south out of Sydney.
Division officers allege four men believed they were meeting with an underage male, and were charged with child grooming.
However, most victims spoken with across Sydney simply believed they were meeting with consenting adults.
Some victims are teenagers themselves.
The true numbers of assaults is unknown, in part because gangs sometimes target members of their own religious communities, police sources told the Herald.
Anti-gay stigma, combined with forced confessions, can intimidate victims and hamper investigations, sources added.
Sydney’s LGBTQ community was targeted by hate crimes between 1970 and the 2000s, and further denied justice after government agencies failed to investigate, prosecute and protect.
The NSW government and NSW Police have apologised for their failures to attain justice for victims of hate crime murders.
A police spokeswoman told this masthead the latest attacks were treated with the utmost seriousness.
The LGBTQ health organisation ACON urged victims to report attacks to police as hate crimes.
“These reports show that we must continue the important work of addressing hate and creating community safety for LGBTQ+ people,” a spokesman said.
“These are acts of hatred that stand at odds with community wide consensus that LGBTQ+ people are full members of our society and should be able to live in safety.”
Police and ACON are urging men to meet in public, verify identities, and share locations with trusted friends when meeting people from dating apps.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.