Eight teens in Malta have pleaded guilty to attacking an 18-year-old they lured through a dating app because of his perceived sexual orientation.
The eight teens, aged between 15 to 17 and seven of whom are male, pleaded guilty on Sunday (30 March) to charges of aggravated theft, grievous bodily harm and illegal detention aggravated by hatred against the person on grounds of their sexual orientation.
The court heard on 10 March that the group lured the victim to an abandoned hotel near the Red Tower, Mellieħa, through a dating app, as reported by the Times of Malta. At the hotel the teens beat the victim and stole his phone.
The teens have been granted bail, with the condition of singing the bail book three times weekly, and staying inside between 8.30pm and 6am.
Dating apps can pose safety risks
This isn’t the first time a dating app has been used to endanger a victim. Last year, a court heard that retired teacher Peter Coshan was reportedly targeted on gay messaging apps before his killing.
Paul Black, who denies murdering 75-year-old Dr Peter Coshan, was found to have contacted Coshan using Gaydar and WhatsApp. He then lured him to a home in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh, before killing him.
In 2022, a gang in India allegedly used Grindr to target as many as 20 queer victims, who they assaulted and robbed.
In a bid to warn others of the dangers of dating apps, a trans woman — who said she was abducted at gunpoint when meeting a man from Tinder amid a rise in dating app kidnappings and extortion in South Africa — shared the importance of personal safety when meeting people from the app.
A Tinder spokesperson said: “The safety of our members is of the utmost importance.” The platform encourages users to report any crimes to local law enforcement.
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