Current Events > 11 teens in IL charged after men lured and beaten using dating app

(+) Yeah! (+)

Eleven Illinois teenagers were charged with felony crimes after two men using dating apps were allegedly lured and beaten during the summer, according to police.
Some of the teens, males 17 and 16, took inspiration for the alleged crimes from a viral social media trend, the Mount Prospect Police Department said in a statement Thursday. Police did not elaborate on what the social media trend entailed.
Around 9:45 p.m. on July 8, a 41-year-old man reported to police that he'd been beaten by "a group of teenagers" in a parking lot on West Northwest Highway in Mount Prospect, Illinois.
"The victim related that he had utilized an online dating app to arrange to meet a person at that location," police said. "After arriving, the victim related that he was approached by a group of teenage males, who confronted him verbally and battered him. Teenagers in the group also damaged the victims vehicle."
The 41-year-old was followed by the teenagers when he tried to flee in his car, but was able to get away from them, police said.
About 10 minutes later, police responded to a report of a battery. A 23-year-old man told police he arranged to meet someone through a dating app about a mile away from the location of the first incident and was instead approached by teen males who beat him, with one slashing tires on his car.
Police did not provide the name of the dating app and did not say if it was one or more apps used to lure the men.
The 23-year-old man was able to get in his car and drive away but had to stop after realizing some of his tires were slashed. He asked the residents of a nearby home to call 911, police said.
"The Mount Prospect Police Detectives were able to locate video surveillance footage that captured the incident at 606 West Northwest Highway and were able to identify some of the offenders in the video," police said. "An extensive investigation was conducted where 11 total juveniles were identified as taking part in one or both incidents."
The teens were charged with one or two counts each of aggravated battery, criminal damage to property and mob action. Detectives also said one used "a racial and another derogatory term" during one of the alleged incidents, resulting in two hate crime charges for that teen, according to police.
Police did not mention which slurs the teenager allegedly used. None of the teens were identified because they are minors, police confirmed.
The Mount Prospect Police Department said the Cook County State's Attorney's Office approved the charges for the teens, who all turned themselves in last month and were taken to Chicago's Cook County Juvenile Detention Center.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/11-teens-felonies-men-lured-beaten-dating-apps-rcna185545

grindr? my question is if the guys were going after people they thought were underaged or not. but either way hopefully all these teens get locked up for at least a year to hopefully grow up a bit.

You can't trust anyone I guess

And to think one of my New Year's resolutions was to download grindr or scruff and make an effort to meet more people (and possible get laid more frequently)

oh well...

I feel like we are missing some details. Did they just catfish these dudes with fake pics? Were they tryna pull a Catch a Predator type thing?

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


I met my wife on eHarmony.

None of the teens were identified because they are minors, police confirmed.

Can someone explain why minors are always left anonymous, even when they commit crimes? I know it's been a thing forever, but I don't understand why.

So... From the sounds of it, they lured these 2 men out, using a gay dating app (assuming Grindr, but none of the articles I've found name the app). And they were inspired by similar crimes that happened in Australia and Maryland where gay men were targeted and beaten.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Nah, dating apps are fairly safe to use. Just have to do your due diligence to make sure the person you're meeting is who they say they are. I used dating apps back in 2022 to meet my now girlfriend and I had no issues with any of the women I met.

No way this is true, because after all, these kids are underage and have no idea what they are doing, and all that other nonsense crap people like to say to coddle teenagers!!!!!!

Seriously, it just pisses me off how fucking naive people are about teenagers. "Oh they are underage so they don't know what they are doing". GTFO of here with that bullshit. They know exactly what they are doing and this tragic story is proof of that. It's why I am harsh about teenage girls who lie about their age or use a fake ID. They do it with a purpose, and that's dangerous as fuck. But all you hear is "they are minors, stop being so mean, leave them alone". Yeah, minors who knows WTF they are doing and needs to be called out for it.

Yes we need to keep kids safe, I agree. But stop coddling them like they are always innocent just because they are minors. Because stories like this shows, they are far from innocent.

creativeme posted...

grindr? my question is if the guys were going after people they thought were underaged or not. but either way hopefully all these teens get locked up for at least a year to hopefully grow up a bit.

They probably lied about their age to lure them. Because it's a safer bet to succeed in their sick plan, Incase the victims aren't into underage kids.

creativeme posted...

grindr? my question is if the guys were going after people they thought were underaged or not. but either way hopefully all these teens get locked up for at least a year to hopefully grow up a bit.

Was my first thought, but targeting men for their sexuality should have qualified as a hate crime and the article says only one said something (twice) that qualified him for a hate crime.

Article is super vague on this story but it almost just seems like they did it for "fun."

GeminiDeus posted...

Can someone explain why minors are always left anonymous, even when they commit crimes? I know it's been a thing forever, but I don't understand why.

The judge can overrule it, but it's related to the presumption of innocence and extra protection given to minors.

Ugh I'm non-binary and one of my pics is me cosplaying as a female anime character. I'm so paranoid about getting violently catfished.

Imagine being that mentally damaged and full of hatred that you would create an elaborate scheme just to gay bash

BlackScythe0 posted...

The judge can overrule it, but it's related to the presumption of innocence and extra protection given to minors.

That's really absurd then, since there's no innocence in setting up a person in order to beat them down.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Uh no, not really. First date off an app should almost always be in a public setting.

StarFighters76 posted...

Yes we need to keep kids safe, I agree. But stop coddling them like they are always innocent just because they are minors. Because stories like this shows, they are far from innocent.

Yeah this is one thing that I think we need to change about our laws. Like one story is fresh in my mind because I just watched a video on it a few days ago. A 17 year old got off easy after causing 2 deaths.

This 17 year old was racing against his older sister down a busy street. They reached 114+ mph in a 50 mph zone and the 17 year old's car hit another car. It instantly killed the 2 people in a vehicle that didn't even see them coming.

Based on the charges, the 17 year old, should have gotten 25 years, because his car caused the crash. But since he was tried as a minor, he got put on probation until he was 21 and never had to serve prison time because he didn't violate his probation. His older sister though, was tried as an adult and was given 15 years in prison.

something something Kyle Rittenhouse

Was this like a predator catching scheme?

PBusted posted...

Was this like a predator catching scheme?

Doubtful. They probably used an adult male's pic to get these guys where they wanted them then attacked them out of hate and bigotry.

GeminiDeus posted...

That's really absurd then, since there's no innocence in setting up a person in order to beat them down.

It may also be a way to keep them out of public records. Sure what did is in the public but not their names, which makes harder to connect those people to any future crimes (should some of them have any issues with the law later on).

Wtf, Ive been hearing about this. People really suck sometimes. Thats the sort of thing that makes someone lose faith in humanity and stop trying.

If this shit is getting to the point where people are terrified to use these dating apps, shouldnt it be classified as domestic terror? Then again, our country is so weak right now that you can pretty much do whatever you want.

crazy

Enclave posted...

I met my wife on eHarmony.

Its official: Marriage or beatdown
there is no middle ground on dating apps

Simon_Gruber posted...

Some of the teens, males 17 and 16, took inspiration for the alleged crimes from a viral social media trend

Ban TikTok.

Paragon21XX posted...

Ban TikTok.

It didn't say tiktok

GeminiDeus posted...

That's really absurd then, since there's no innocence in setting up a person in order to beat them down.

There isn't, but in the eyes of the law these people haven't actually been proven to have done it yet. I'm not gonna lie, I'd actually like to see that protection extended the other way.

reincarnator07 posted...

There isn't, but in the eyes of the law these people haven't actually been proven to have done it yet. I'm not gonna lie, I'd actually like to see that protection extended the other way.

Innocent until proven guilty applies to all criminal legal matters in the US, including what these teens did.

Facing criticism on gamefaqs isnt a criminal conviction or sentence.

Th3HonestTruth posted...

It didn't say tiktok

Good point maybe it was LinkedIn.

BloodyBenten posted...

Innocent until proven guilty applies to all criminal legal matters in the US, including what these teens did.

Facing criticism on gamefaqs isnt a criminal conviction or sentence.

The problem is that the accused persons name is all over every article before they are proven guilty if they're 18+. At that point it wont matter if they're proven innocent, everyone will say they just got away with it.

BloodyBenten posted...

Good point maybe it was LinkedIn.

Or Twitter and youtube