WORCESTER, MASS. (WHDH) - Several students at Assumption University in Worcester are accused of luring a man they met on a dating site to campus and attacking him.
Assumption University police charged six students, including four males and two females, in connection with a “To Catch a Predator”-style trend gaining traction on Tiktok.
“It’s something that you don’t expect, especially at a small school like this,” student Harmony Ponte said.
Campus police said the students lured a man that one of the female students met on a dating app to the campus, where police said a mob of students assaulted the man, claiming he was a pedophile. Investigators say he wasn’t one.
“It’s disappointing, it’s sad, especially, like I said, being at a small school, and it’s shocking,” Ponte.
Police said the assault by about 40 students carried on for more than two minutes and was captured on campus security cameras.
According to court documents, the man was chased to his parked vehicle, where it was then surrounded and kicked. Court documents said the driver’s door was slammed on the man’s head.
One of the suspects reported that the “To Catch a Predator” trend is big on Tiktok, but that this incident got out of hand.
Campus police declined to comment on the matter. However, the university released a statement.
“The behavior described in the court filing is abhorrent and antithetical to Assumption University‘s mission and values. The incident highlights the very real harm that social media can inflict when it promotes dangerous and irresponsible behavior,” a university spokesperson said in a statement.
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