In a troubling incident at Assumption University in Massachusetts, five college students are facing accusations of luring a man to their campus in an elaborate setup that police believe was influenced by the television series “To Catch a Predator” as well as a viral trend on TikTok. According to a criminal complaint from Worcester District Court dated December 4, the students were part of a group that pursued the man after he was invited to the campus by a female student he met on Tinder, who allegedly misrepresented her age.

Once on campus, the police report indicates that the group confronted the man, branding him a sexual predator and preventing him from leaving a student lounge. The event was reportedly filmed as a "deliberately staged event." Furthermore, authorities noted that two of the students physically assaulted the man during this encounter. Importantly, there was no evidence suggesting that the man sought to engage with underage individuals, as the female student who extended the invitation to him claimed on her Tinder profile to be 18 years old. The police have not disclosed the age of the man involved in this incident.