A dozen students from Salisbury University, aged 18 to 21, were charged with a hate crime on Thursday after allegedly luring a man to an off-campus apartment using social media before assaulting him, according to local police in Maryland.
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local outlet WJZ News found charging documents that said one of the college-aged men created a fake Grindr profile posing as a 16-year-old, setting up a time with the victim for “sexual intercourse.”
The age of consent in Maryland is 16.
The Salisbury Police Department said the college students forced the victim to sit in a chair while they beat him up and called him derogatory names. The assault allegedly lasted around five minutes, and the victim told police he tried multiple times to leave but was pulled back.
At the end, the victim had a broken rib and bruises all over his body.
Police say the victim was targeted due to his sexual preferences, while attorney James L. Britt, representing the college men,
told The Baltimore Banner that was not the case.
“Once all of the facts see the light of day, this case will be shown to be an ill-advised attempt to expose someone willing to travel to have sexual relations with a 16-year-old child,” Britt said.
Salisbury University President Carolyn Ringer Lepre said in a statement the students are on suspension.
“Acts of violence toward LGBTQ+ and Ally communities are not only destructive but at odds with the principles of community, respect, and belonging that bind us together as a university,” Lepre said.
