{"id":62113,"date":"2018-01-22T10:20:25","date_gmt":"2018-01-22T15:20:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/police-investigating-string-of-grindr-sex-assaults-and-robberies-as-hate-crimes-in-dallas\/"},"modified":"2018-01-22T10:20:25","modified_gmt":"2018-01-22T15:20:25","slug":"police-investigating-string-of-grindr-sex-assaults-and-robberies-as-hate-crimes-in-dallas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/police-investigating-string-of-grindr-sex-assaults-and-robberies-as-hate-crimes-in-dallas\/","title":{"rendered":"Police Investigating String of Grindr Sex Assaults and Robberies as Hate Crimes in Dallas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Police Investigating String of Grindr Sex Assaults and Robberies as Hate Crimes in Dallas<\/b>
\n\"Grindr\"<\/p>\n

\"Grindr\"<\/p>\n

A string of robberies and at least one sexual assault in Dallas tied to the gay<\/a> social app Grindr are being investigated as hate crimes, police report, NBC DFW reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The department is investigating a series of assaults that happened in December where victims were lured to an apartment where they were robbed and beaten. The robberies and assaults have all involved Grindr, a smartphone app for gay<\/a> men<\/a> to meet other men<\/a> in the area.<\/p>\n

Community policing group \u201cTake Back Oak Lawn\u201d is reminding community members to be vigilant. The organization started after a similar string of assaults in the Oak Lawn area three years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe truly believe this is not a direct result of just an app or just a website, you know, or just a bar or just a place you went. This affects, unfortunately, people from all walks of life. It\u2019s very sad to see in this scenario that people are being targeted for their sexual orientation, and that\u2019s what makes this very heinous to us,\u201d said founding member Lee Dougherty.<\/p>\n

The Dallas Morning News<\/em> says there were seven victims in December and more suspects are believed to be at large, though one man, a 17-year-old,\u00a0 is in custody<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Police said the victims\u00a0were robbed and beaten. One was sexually assaulted.<\/p>\n

Grindr is a dating app geared toward\u00a0the gay<\/a> community, and police said the suspect in the December crimes used the app to find victims.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter further investigation one of the robberies has been reclassified to a sexual assault offense,\u201d police said Saturday. \u201cThere are indications that the offenses were motivated on the perceived sexual orientation of the victim and are being considered hate crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch a report from NBC Dallas:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The post Police Investigating String of Grindr Sex Assaults and Robberies as Hate Crimes in Dallas<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Police Investigating String of Grindr Sex Assaults and Robberies as Hate Crimes in Dallas<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n