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6 Massachusetts college students arraigned for allegedly trying ‘catch a predator’ trend

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6 Massachusetts college students arraigned for allegedly trying ‘catch a predator’ trend



The man allegedly lured by the Assumption University students was a 22-year-old active military member.

The six Massachusetts college students accused of participating in the “catch a predator” TikTok trend by using Tinder to lure a man to campus and assaulting him appeared in court Thursday as they were arraigned.

The Assumption University students, who all face kidnapping and conspiracy charges, briefly stood in Worcester District Court and pleaded not guilty before being released on personal recognizance.

The accused students all exited the courtroom hastily with their families and none of them, or their attorneys, offered comment to reporters following the brief hearings, according to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette − part of the USA TODAY Network.

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The defendants — Kelsy Brainard, 18; Easton Randall, 19; Kevin Carroll, 18; Isabella Trudeau, 18; and Joaquin Smith, 18 — showed little emotion in the courtroom, the Associated Press reported. A juvenile was also charged and arraigned separately in juvenile court, the outlet said.

Robert Iacovelli, Trudeau’s lawyer, told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette his client is innocent and he subsequently filed a one-page motion on Thursday seeking dismissal of the charges against her arguing the authorities’ lack of probable cause.

USA TODAY contacted the students’ attorneys Thursday but did not receive an immediate response.

Here is what to know about the case and the man who campus police say was falsely labeled a sexual predator.

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What are the Assumption University students accused of doing?

The Assumption University students are accused of using Tinder to trick the man to the school’s campus on Oct. 1, and once there, he was mobbed by a group of more than 20 students who called him a pedophile and assaulted him, according to a criminal complaint obtained by USA TODAY.

Although Brainard told campus police that the “creepy guy” came on campus looking for a 17-year-old girl, officers found no evidence of this and said she and the other five students fabricated the meetup to participate in the “catch a predator” TikTok trend.

The man “believed he was meeting an 18-year-old girl on a college campus and using the Tinder app as it is originally designed to initiate a hookup,” the complaint reads. Brainard’s Tinder account also listed her as 18, police said.

What did the university say?

In response to the subsequent investigation and charges against its students, the university’s President Greg Weiner said in a statement to USA TODAY that “the behavior described in the court filing is abhorrent and antithetical to Assumption University’s mission and values.”

Assumption University is a private, Catholic university located in Worcester, Massachusetts.

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“In all circumstances, we expect our students to exercise sound judgment and uphold the principles of respect, responsibility, and character that define our community,” Weiner said. “Once the incident was reported, the Department of Public Safety commenced an immediate and thorough investigation − with concern for the victim at the forefront − which resulted in our Campus Police filing charges against six students.”

The school did not say whether or not the students would face academic discipline.

Alleged victim was a 22-year-old active military member

The man who was mobbed and assaulted, including having his head slammed into his car door allegedly by the juvenile student, is a 22-year-old active military member.

“This situation is particularly sobering because the victim is an active-duty military service member,” Weiner said. “His service reminds us of the sacrifices made by those who defend our freedoms, including the opportunity to pursue a college education.”

The man told police he was in Worcester for his grandmother’s funeral in October and “just wanted to be around people that were happy,” according to the complaint.

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Before leaving the courtroom, the judge ordered the teenagers to not have any contact with the man, the AP reported.

What is the ‘catch a predator’ trend?

The “catch a predator” TikTok trend is inspired by the popular reality TV series “To Catch a Predator” featuring journalist Chris Hansen. The show aired on NBC and revolved around men arriving at a sting house to try and have sex with a minor. The men were usually ambushed at the homes by Hansen and law enforcement before being arrested.

Sometimes these vigilante-like operations lead to convictions, but usually, they do not. Authorities have warned people against conducting these stings because they could turn violent.

“We are asking parents to take these incidents as an opportunity to talk with their teenage children about the seriousness of actively participating in these types of trends they see on social media,” Mount Prospect, Illinois Police Chief Michael Eterno said after 11 teenage boys were charged with felonies last year for allegedly participating in the trend.

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Massachusetts

Obituary for Peter J. Grudzien at Daniel T. Morrill Funeral Home

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Obituary for Peter J. Grudzien at Daniel T. Morrill Funeral Home


North Brookfield / Sturbridge Peter J. Grudzien, 85, formerly a longtime resident of Sturbridge, passed away on Friday, Sept. 19th, in the UMass Memorial Health Harrington, Southbridge, after a long illness. He leaves his wife of 66 years, Willa A. Power Grudzien his son, Bill Grudzien and his wife Denise



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N.H. leads 25 states in seeking Supreme Court review of ‘unconstitutional’ Mass. gun law

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N.H. leads 25 states in seeking Supreme Court review of ‘unconstitutional’ Mass. gun law


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The effort calls into question whether or not Massachusetts’ firearm regulations for out-of-state visitors are unconstitutional.

The attorneys general of 25 Republican-led states say that Massachusetts’ gun regulations pose a constitutional problem. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

New Hampshire is leading an effort from 25 states to challenge a Massachusetts gun law, and this month, they’re taking it to the Supreme Court.

The centerpiece of the argument is the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, N.H., which reaches across state lines into Tyngsborough. If shoppers park on the south side of the mall’s parking lot, they might end up crossing state lines during a visit.

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The attorneys general of New Hampshire and 24 other Republican-led states say this poses a potential problem for firearm holders. A New Hampshire resident who is legally carrying a firearm on their home state’s side of the parking lot may inadvertently be breaking the law when they cross the lot into Massachusetts, where it is illegal to carry without a permit.

Joining New Hampshire are the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming, who are calling the arrangement unconstitutional. The states have rallied behind Phillip Marquis of Rochester, N.H., to ask the Supreme Court to protect out-of-state residents from Massachusetts’ firearms regulations.

“The geography of the mall is such that a New Hampshire resident might find themselves in Massachusetts if she parks on the south side of the parking lot or visits Buffalo Wild Wings,” reads a brief from the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office to the Supreme Court. “If that person is carrying a firearm without a Massachusetts license — which would be constitutionally protected activity in most of the mall—that person risks being charged as a felon and facing mandatory incarceration in Massachusetts.”

The trouble began for Marquis in 2022 when he was in a car accident in Massachusetts, according to the brief. When police arrived, he informed them that he had a pistol on him and was subsequently charged with carrying a firearm without a license.

Marquis previously sued the Commonwealth for the burdens that Massachusetts’ firearms permit law creates on out-of-state visitors, but the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court denied his claims. They ruled in March that the state’s nonresident firearms licensing laws were constitutional, according to court documents.

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Claiming that the Massachusetts court denied him his Second and Fourteenth Amendment rights, Marquis has petitioned the Supreme Court to federally overrule that court’s decision. In his petition, Marquis invoked New York State Rifle & Police Association, Inc. v. Bruen, where the court established that state firearms restrictions must be covered by the Second Amendment or adhere to historical firearms regulations.

Using Bruen, Marquis and the Republican attorneys general supporting him are aiming to prove that there is no justification for applying Massachusetts’ firearms restrictions to out-of-state residents and that to do so would be unconstitutional. However, the state’s Supreme Judicial Court found the law constitutional even under Bruen because it intends to prevent dangerous people from obtaining firearms, just as historical regulations have done.

“To the extent that the Commonwealth restricts the ability of law-abiding citizens to carry firearms within its borders, the justification for so doing is credible, individualized evidence that the person in question would pose a danger if armed,” the Supreme Judicial Court’s decision read. “Both case law and the historical record unequivocally indicate that this justification is consistent with ‘the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.’”

It’s not immediately clear if the Supreme Court will respond to Marquis’ appeal or when it will make any kind of decision, but lower courts are at something of a crossroads with how and when to apply Bruen to gun possession cases. As such, they are looking to the Supreme Court for a more definitive answer.

Since the proof of historical context that Bruen requires has led to some uncertainty, any ruling that these lower courts make is likely to amount to a partisan decision. However, if the Supreme Court provides more substantive clarity in a response to Marquis, these lower courts just might find the answer they are seeking.

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Mass. State Lottery winner: 2 $100,000 Mass Cash prizes won Friday

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Mass. State Lottery winner: 2 0,000 Mass Cash prizes won Friday


Massachusetts State Lottery players won two $100,000 prizes Friday from the day’s “Mass Cash” drawings.

The winning tickets were sold at the Roslindale Food Mart on Washington Street and McSheffrey’s of the South End convenience store (with Mobil gas) on Main Street in Woburn.

Mass Cash drawings happen twice daily, at 2 p.m. and at 9 p.m. It costs just $1 to play.

Overall, at least 625 prizes worth $600 or more were won or claimed in Massachusetts on Monday, including 6 in Springfield, 22 in Worcester and 14 in Boston.

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The Massachusetts State Lottery releases a full list of winning tickets every day. The list only includes winning tickets worth more than $600.

The two largest lottery prizes won so far in 2025 were each worth $15 million. One of the prizes was from a winning “Diamond Deluxe” scratch ticket sold in Holyoke, and the other was from a “300X” scratch ticket sold on Cape Cod.

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