Perth gay man bashed after being lured to a park on Grindr
Image: (Image credit: Ann-Marie Calilhanna; Star Observer)
A 28-year-old gay man has been viciously attacked by a group of men after being baited to a Perth park via hook-up app Grindr.
The man arranged the meet-up after beginning a conversation with another profile on Friday night, Out In Perth reported.
He arrived at the arranged location and was then lured to Bennett Park in Doubleview.
A group of men waiting at the park attacked him, calling him “a pedo” and abusing him with slurs like “fag” while bashing him.
The victim was left with a bruises, a black eye and possible facial fractures.
He managed to escape the group after the assault, which took place sometime between 10:30pm and 11pm on Friday night.
Though the men attempted to take the victim’s wallet and phone, he was able to get back to his car and leave the park without them being stolen.
Two Perth men last year plead guilty to luring men to public places using Grindr and assaulting them, with the ringleader, James Joseph Katchan, viewing himself as a vigilante with a view to “guard the area from faggots and paedophiles”.
Katchan was jailed for six years over the series of assaults, four of which occurred over 10 days, with one involving a man being bashed using a baseball bat.
Cody Parkinson, who also participated in the assaults, was jailed for two years, as were two other unnamed participants.
In the case of the fifth assault, Katchan and his group also stole the man’s money, car and house keys, and destroyed his phone.
A Canberra teenager was also jailed last year for his role in a scam that involved baiting men using Grindr and attempted to extort money from them, leading to one victim committing suicide.
Melbourne man Timothy Ruge was charged with blackmail last year after demanding money in exchange for not outing a man he corresponded with using Grindr.
In 2013, Warren Batchelor was brutally bashed at Middle Swan Reserve in Perth and later died from the injuries. His two assailants were convicted of murder.
Meet who every you meet need a street camera then you have profe of who thy are in case something happens
the root cause for all these ongoing scam, blackmail, lure-and-bash, etc is the criminal’s understanding around how to take advantage of someone being gay and being unable to fully express who they are in our society. education needs to continue to make society more open and gay friendly (not on the outside but deep down and totally). In other words, the fear factor and the fear instigated the dating/the hook-up under wraps need to be tackled in the first place.
App certainly has room for improvement, but decision of doing whatever comes from an individual. It is important for everyone who is using app or anything to come up with safety plan or strategies just in case things go wrong or unexpected. Going to a parkland very late and in the darkness to meet a stranger (someone you hardly know in real life) wouldn’t be high on my agenda. Common sense in terms of safety is the key in other words.
You have to be suspicious of some people on the internet, they are full of hatred and violence, probably closeted bisexuals or homosexuals…living in australia or overseas…possibly from a family of haters…religious or non religious
Thanks for the fear mongering about Grindr, but sadly these type of attacks have been taking place forever, including during the peak of gay bar culture. Grindr is just the latest method of luring the victims. People are dangerous not an internet app. Vigilance!
Grindr is dangerous. I understand we’re living in a new era where this will probably keep going on, in some ways I guess it is still like the beats of the previous centuries, but you always need to be vigilant. This is one of the saddest things about the decline of gay bars. I have used Grindr before and had some good experiences but I have overall found it to be a negative app and I won’t be installing it again. I wish I could just meet a nice guy “normally”.