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A judge has dismissed kidnapping and conspiracy charges filed against five Massachusetts college students accused of luring a man to their campus in a “Catch a Predator”-style scheme using a dating app.
A Worcester District Court judge dismissed the charges against Kelsey Brainard, Isabella Trudeau, Joaquin Smith, Kevin Carroll and Easton Randall on Tuesday. The decision came after lawyers for the teenage Assumption University students claimed prosecutors lacked probable cause and filed motions to dismiss last month.
Information regarding the status of a sixth student, charged as a juvenile, was not immediately available.
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Kelsy Brainard is arraigned in Worcester District Court in Massachusetts on Thursday, January 16, 2025. Brainard is one of six Assumption University students arrested in connection with ambushing U.S. soldier as part of a ‘Catch a Predator’ online trend. (David McGlynn for Fox News Digital)
“We are grateful that the court, after a fair hearing and due consideration, applied the law correctly in this situation,” Brainard’s lawyer, Christopher Todd, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
The Worcester District Attorney’s Office declined Fox News Digital’s request for comment, citing pending cases in the matter.
Prosecutors alleged the group used Brainard’s Tinder account to pose as a 17-year-old woman, luring a 22-year-old active-duty military service member to the university in October.
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Kevin Carroll is arraigned in Worcester District Court in Massachusetts on Thursday, January 16, 2025. Carroll is one of six Assumption University students arrested in connection with ambushing U.S. soldier as part of a ‘Catch a Predator’ online trend. (David McGlynn for Fox News Digital)
Minutes after the man arrived in a campus basement lounge, “a group of people came out of nowhere and started calling him a pedophile,” according to a report filed by campus police. The man told authorities the students accused him of wanting sex with 17-year-olds as at least 25 people chased him to his car.
The man said he was then punched in the head and slammed in his car door before he was able to drive away.
Todd argued in his motion to dismiss that surveillance footage showing the group chasing the man does not show evidence that anyone tried to keep him from leaving, adding that Brainard remained inside the lounge during the incident and there was no evidence the group was planning to hold the man against his will.
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La Maison Francaise on the campus of Assumption University, where a 22-year-old soldier was allegedly lured via Tinder and attacked by students on Oct. 1. (Rick Cinclair/Telegram & Gazette / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Following the attack, Randall told officers the group was inspired by the “catch a predator” trend on TikTok and recruited students through their dormitory chat by claiming a “predator” was coming to the school, according to the police report.
The Tinder conversation between the group and the victim shows the woman telling him she is 17, about to be 18, with the man telling her “that’s fine, you’re in college,” according to Todd. Brainard contacted authorities after the attack, alleging the man was a sexual predator, which police found to be false.
The Assumption University Police Department “fulfilled its duty as an accredited law enforcement agency by filing charges describing the facts of the incident and the elements of a crime under Massachusetts law,” a university spokesperson said. “The district attorney accepted and prosecuted those charges. All of the charges in the case, including those that remain in place, are within the purview of the judicial system to resolve.”
The department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Carroll is still charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and Brainard is facing a witness intimidation charge.
An attorney representing Carroll did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
