Dating app Grindr 'linked to dozens of child sex abuse cases' - some with boys as young as 12

[Artaxerxes II]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... cases.html

Grindr is facing accusations of being a site used by men to meet and rape young boys, including two children aged under 13.
The popular dating app faced at least 13 police reports of serious sexual offences allegedly perpetrated against children, including at least five reports of rape, in which it was listed as the first point of contact between the suspect and victim.
An investigation by The i Paper made the shocking reveal after analysing reports made to police in the first ten months of 2024.
One example was of a boy, 12, who was raped in a car and sexually assaulted twice in a park in Warrington by a 50-year-old who he first spoke to on Grindr last February and agreed to meet him in person for cash and vapes.
In that case, the rapist pleaded guilty to the charges in June and was jailed for 64 months.
Surrey Police is currently investigating another rape case of a boy under the age of 13 to the platform, while Lincolnshire police report that a boy aged under 13 allegedly suffered a sexual assault after using the Grindr app.
The site is the world's largest LGBTQ dating app which claims to provide a 'safe space' for the community and says that under-18s are not allowed to use the app.
However, evidence shows the platform's age checks – which require an individual to state they are 18 or over – are failing to stop serious abuse of children.

Police disclosures show dozens of underage boys have been able to gain access to the app and be allegedly sexually abused by older men.
Dating back to 2019, Freedom of Information requests show that Grindr has been listed as playing a key role in at least 130 reports of sexual offences allegedly perpetrated against minors.
This includes 40 reports of rape and multiple reports of children being paid for sex.
Within the same time frame, more than 100 additional sexual offences reportedly perpetrated against children have also been linked to Grindr.
In these cases, the platform's involvement is not fully known, as some forces refused to provide further clarity due to data protection laws.
The Metropolitan Police, Police Scotland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland, refused to provide data due to time constraints, meaning the true figures are likely to be higher.
According to Victoria Green, CEO of Marie Collins Foundation, the reported figures will be low in comparison to the actual offences, due to the barriers LGBTQ people face when reporting sexual offences, such as having to reveal their sexuality.
Some believe these findings are 'just the tip of the iceberg', with lawyer Carrie Goldberg predicting a 'generation of men coming forward pointing the finger at this app for facilitating their sexual exploitation' in the next 20 years.

Campaigners believe abusers are targeting young members of the LGBTQ community who are particularly susceptible over dating apps such as Grindr.
And MPs, police and campaigners are now demanding urgent action to safeguard young people.
Jess Phillips, minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said the claims were 'incredibly concerning', while Former Justice Secretary Lord Falconer described the disclosures of underage abuse as a 'big scandal'.
Assistant chief constable Becky Riggs, the national police lead for child protection, said that sexual predators are exploiting platforms to commit crimes against children.
She called for 'much more action from tech companies to do more to make their platforms safe places' and to stop the 'widespread grooming and exploitation of children'.
A spokesperson for Grindr told i that it went to 'great lengths' to prevent children from accessing the app.
The company says it has a moderation team to identify and ban accounts if they are suspected of belonging to minors.
Individuals can only download their app through the most age-restrictive settings on app stores, the spokesperson said.

They added: 'There is no place in society for abuse of minors, and we wholly condemn anyone who commits crimes against underage individuals.'
Ofcom is yet to decide whether dating apps will be required to enforce strict age verification measures under the long-awaited Online Safety Act.
According to the communication regulator, Grindr has nearly 1million users in the UK and around 14million monthly active users around the globe.
To make a profile, users have to provide their date of birth, which must show that they are at least 18 years old.
Grindr can be downloaded on the Google and Apple app stores. Both state that users must be adults to access the app, which is rated under the most age-restrictive settings.
This means a minor can only access Grindr if a parent or guardian has permitted the downloading of adult-only apps on the device that the minor is using.
The Government warned Grindr in 2019 that the platform's lack of effective age verification presented 'a significant risk to child safety' and asked for an update about what the company was doing to stop children using the platform.
Dating services will have until this April to determine if their platforms are likely to be accessed by children, under the Online Safety Act which is yet to come into force.
If they are, dating companies must implement safety measures to 'mitigate risks'.
If these companies fail to protect children, Ofcom can seek a court order to block access or impose maximum fines of 10% of worldwide turnover or £18m, whichever is greater.
In response to The i Paper's findings, Grindr said: 'Our app currently has an age gate, a substantial moderation team to identify and ban accounts at the device level if they are suspected to belong to minors or discuss topics related to minors, and deployment of AI and machine learning technology to proactively identify and ban similar accounts.
'Unlike virtually every other major social media or online dating service, you cannot create a Grindr account on the web. Users can only create a Grindr account by downloading the app from the Apple and Google app stores, where it is categorised under the most age-restrictive settings.
'Preventing minors from accessing adult-only apps and content is critically important across the internet ecosystem, and we are actively engaged with the UK online safety regulator and online child safety groups to combat this industry-wide challenge. We also cooperate with UK law enforcement requests in cases where perpetrators misuse our platform.
'As we've grown to serve millions of adults in the UK over the last several years, we've been increasing investment and further bolstering our approach to barring minors from the app.
'For many gay and bi adult men in the UK and around the world, Grindr is the primary and often the only way to build a community. For that reason our users play an active role in reporting accounts that they suspect may belong to minors, which are then scrutinised by our moderation team.'

[Jim Burton]

The doublespeak is strong here.

Rape being the portion that were under 13, or actually raped.

"Targeting LGBTQ" being in fact LGBTQ adults targeting LGBTQ youth (and vice versa) on the basis they will voluntarily partake of the same acts. It is apparently some awful crime that the offenses were preferential, or voluntary.

What is the view of the present Labour Party about the offenses that took place at the Stonewall Inn?

[terminally_unique]

The doublespeak is strong here.

Rape being the portion that were under 13, or actually raped.

"Targeting LGBTQ" being in fact LGBTQ adults targeting LGBTQ youth (and vice versa) on the basis they will voluntarily partake of the same acts. It is apparently some awful crime that the offenses were preferential, or voluntary.

What is the view of the present Labour Party about the offenses that took place at the Stonewall Inn?

I'm curious. Is "rape" a legal term here since the boys were under 13 or is the media just being sensational?

[BLueRibbon]

The doublespeak is strong here.

Rape being the portion that were under 13, or actually raped.

"Targeting LGBTQ" being in fact LGBTQ adults targeting LGBTQ youth (and vice versa) on the basis they will voluntarily partake of the same acts. It is apparently some awful crime that the offenses were preferential, or voluntary.

What is the view of the present Labour Party about the offenses that took place at the Stonewall Inn?

I'm curious. Is "rape" a legal term here since the boys were under 13 or is the media just being sensational?

Legal term. It applies to a person putting a part of their body in a person under the age of 13, consensually or otherwise.

It's even worse in Japan (which is still a much better country than the UK), where the term can be applied to giving a 15 year old a blow job!

[Fragment]

It's even worse in Japan (which is still a much better country than the UK), where the term can be applied to giving a 15 year old a blow job!

Technically the crime of "rape" was abolished in Japan in 2017. It involved forcibly inserting a penis into a vagina, but if the girl was under 13 force was not required. It only applied to men. The lesser crime of "forced indecency" covered other sexual contact. It had a penalty of 2-15 years from 1908 until 2004 which was raised in 2005 to 3-20 years. It required a complaint from the victim for charges to be laid and had a statute of limitations of 10 years.

In 2017 it was replaced with the crime of "forced sexual intercourse", which is forcibly inserting (or forcing to be inserted) a penis into a vagina, mouth or anus. It moved anal sex, oral sex and rape by women from the lesser crime of "indecency" to the more severe crime. The minimum penalty increased from 3 to 5 years with a max of 20. The law also changed so that a complaint from the victim wasn't required- the prosecutor could charge any case they were aware of.

In July 2023 the name changed to "non-consensual intercourse". It expanded to cover putting fingers or objects into a vagina or anus. It also expanded the definition of "non-consent" from force to include things like "deception" and "using a position of power". The age of strict liability was raised from 13 to 16 (except there is a 5 year exemption, so, for example an 18-year-old can have sex with a 13-year-old). The prison term remained 5-20 years, but the statute of limitations was raised to 15 years, but in the case of a minor, this 15 years doesn't begin until they turn 18, so they can press charges up until they are 33 years old.

As I wrote here there was a soccer coach who put his finger inside a teen boy while masturbating him only 10 days after the law changed. Due to the change he was found guilty of a crime with a minimum 5 year penalty.

The crime of "forced indecency" applied to sexual acts outside of the scope of the rape/intercourse including touching, masturbating and in some rare cases hugging or kissing against someone's will. This law was first passed in 1995 with a sentence of 6 months - 7 years and has gotten stricter while many acts have moved from "indecency" into "intercourse". The penalty now is 6 months - 10 years and it uses the revised definition of consent (including age) and the same rules regarding pressing charges.

Up until 1995 you could have been an active BL with no consequences. Up until 2017 you would still face limited consequences- even less if you were a TBL. Since mid 2023 it has become much more punitive (including judges/ prosecutors' attitudes). It's still not as crazy as the West, but it's drawing ever nearer.

(And I could write a whole nother essay about the changes in laws regarding teachers caught having sex with students- also something that's only been heavily cracked down on over the last decade)

[Bookshelf]

The fact that so many teenage boys go out of their way to download an app specifically designed for gay hookups is evidence that these teenage boys want to have gay hookups. This isn't a site where you go to play roblox or something, and you're victim to some creepy man sneaking into your DMs with a dick pic; this is a place where the only reason you make an account is if you want to get with men.

The mental gymnastics someone has to go through to call this abuse are absurd.

[BLueRibbon]

Thank you for the much more detailed explanation, Fragment.

The fact that so many teenage boys go out of their way to download an app specifically designed for gay hookups is evidence that these teenage boys want to have gay hookups. This isn't a site where you go to play roblox or something, and you're victim to some creepy man sneaking into your DMs with a dick pic; this is a place where the only reason you make an account is if you want to get with men.

The mental gymnastics someone has to go through to call this abuse are absurd.

This is spot on.