Eleven teens face multiple felony charges in two July assaults in Mount Prospect; in each case the victims were men lured by their assailants through dating apps, according to multiple reports. One of those alleged assailants faces two felony counts of committing a hate crime.
According to Mount Prospect police, nine of the teens were 17 years old, while the other two were 16 years old. Neither the names of the victims nor the alleged assailants have been released. Authorities have not said which app or apps were used to lure the victims.
The incidents occurred July 8 in Mount Prospect in the 900 block of N. Lincoln St. and at 606 W. Northwest Hwy.
One victim, age 41, reported the crime at 9:45 p.m. that day at Mount Prospect police headquarters, indicating he’d gone to the Northwest Highway location to meet someone he’d met on a dating app. He was however approached by the assailants who both verbally and physically assaulted him. He fled in his vehicle but said the assailants followed him.
Meanwhile, officers responded to a call from another male, age 23, who said that he’d been attacked by a gang of teenagers who had lured him under similar circumstances. He was also assaulted both verbally and physically, and his vehicles tires were slashed. This second victim was also able to flee in his vehicle, but did not get far because of the slashed tires. He received help at a nearby home and notified the police from there.
One of the assailants reportedly used racial and other slurs in the course of the incident, resulting in his being charged with two counts of hate crime. The assailants allegedly learned about this mode of contacting and assaulting victims through social media.
Though the particular app or apps, and the sexual orientation of the victims, have not been disclosed, the Mount Prospect attacks appear similar to numerous recent incidents wherein gay men have been lured via dating apps to a location where they’ve been attacked. One such incident took place in Maryland in October, for example, while several more have taken place in Australia.
Sydney Morning Herald reported that gangs of teenagers in that city had been using apps to both rob and beat their victims, as well as coerce them to confess to being pedophiles while being filmed for social media.
“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,” said Mount Prospect Police Chief Michael Eterno in a Dec. 26 statement.
Windy City Times has reached out to Mount Prospect police for comment and will update this article as more information becomes available.