Five students at Catholic college charged with luring a 22-year-old soldier on campus, before falsely accusing him of being a pedophile and assaulting the victim

Assumption University students Kelsy Brainard, 18, Easton Randall, 19, Kevin Carroll, 18, Isabella Trudeau, 18, and Joaquin Smith, 18, and pled not guilty to conspiracy and kidnapping charge

Prosecutors say Brainard met active dutyman on Tinder, told him she was 18, and invited him to the Catholic school in Worcester on October 1 so they could ‘try and hook up.’

Brainard greeted him when he arrived at the school, before she led him into a basement lounge

Within minutes, ‘a group of people came out of nowhere and started calling him a pedophile,’ accusing him of wanting sex with 17-year-old girls

Victim broke free, but was chased by at least 25 people to his car, where he was punched and his car door slammed on him before he managed to flee

Brainard is also charged with witness intimidation, while Carroll was charged with assault and battery after he reportedly admitted to slamming the victim’s head in the car door

Sixth defendant was separately arraigned in juvenile court because they are underage 

Co-conspirator Easton Randall allegedly told cops they were inspired by the current ‘catch a predator’ trend, which he said ‘is big on TikTok’

Kelsy Brainard, [photo], with four other students allegedly lured a soldier, 22, then falsely accused him of being a pedophile. She met him on Tinder, claimed she was 18, before inviting him on campus on October 1, so they could ‘try and hook up’ – with the intention of trending on TikTok

Five students at a Catholic college have been charged with conspiracy and kidnapping after luring a 22-year-old active duty serviceman, only to falsely accuse him of being a pedophile – hoping to cash in on a huge ‘Catch a Predator’ trend on TikTok.
Kelsy Brainard, 18, Easton Randall, 19, Kevin Carroll, 18, Isabella Trudeau, 18, and Joaquin Smith, 18, all students at Assumption University in Worcester, Massachusetts, appeared in court on Thursday. All pled entered not guilty pleas.
A sixth defendant, being a minor, was separately arraigned in juvenile court. 
The brain behind the catfishing, Kelsy Brainard is also charged with witness intimidation, while Kevin Carroll is also charged with assault and battery after allegedly admitting to slamming the victim’s head in the car door.
Prosecutors say Brainard met the man on Tinder. She told him she was 18, and invited him to the Catholic school in Worcester on October ,1 so they could ‘try and hook up.’
The alleged victim, an active-duty military service member told investigators he was in town for his grandmother’s funeral and went on Tinder because he ‘just wanted to be around people that were happy.’
Arriving at the school he was greeted by ‘his host’ Kelsy Brainard before she led him into a basement lounge.

Charged: Isabella Trudeau, 18, is charged with kidnapping and conspiracy over the October assault on a serviceman invited to visit a fellow student on campus

Charged: Kevin Carroll faces additional charges of assault and battery after reportedly admitting to slamming the victim’s head in the car door

However, within minutes, ‘a group of people came out of nowhere and started calling him a pedophile,’ accusing him of wanting sex with 17-year-old girls, according to the court documents. 
Although he managed to break free, man was chased to his car by at least 25 people, where he was punched in the head and his car door was slammed on him before he managed to flee.
Campus surveillance video shows a large group of students, including Brainard, ‘all with their cellphones out in what seems to be a recording of the whole episode,’ the police statement said. 
They are seen ‘laughing and high fiving with each other’ in what appeared to be ‘a deliberately staged event,’ and there was no evidence to indicate the man was seeking sexual relations with underage girls, the police report said.
Randall allegedly told officers they were inspired by the ‘catch a predator’ trend, which he said ‘is big on TikTok’ at the moment.
He said their group shared ideas of what to tell the man through the Tinder app to lure him to campus, and then spread word through a dormitory chat group that a ‘predator’ was in the building, the report said.
A review of the messages showed no indication that the man was looking for underage girls, police said.

Charged: Easton Randall, allegedly admitted to officers that the conspiracy was inspired by the ‘catch a predator’ trend, which he said ‘is big on TikTok’ at the moment

Charged: Joaquin Smith appeared at a district court along with four other students at Assumption University in Worcester, Massachusetts, made their first appearance on Thursday, facing charges of kidnap conspiracy

After the assault, Brainard reported the man to police as a sexual predator and said she was frightened by him. She said he had come to campus uninvited and that she texted a male friend who chased him away. 
All of this was false, campus police concluded after reviewing surveillance recordings and finding that ‘first person perspective videos’ were being circulated among students.
Before leaving court, where cameras were turned on them, the teens were ordered to have no contact with the targeted man.
A lawyer for Brainard, Christopher Todd, said, ‘We’re just looking forward to having the process play out.
The lawyer for Trudeau, Robert Iacovelli, said afterward that she’s innocent. He filed a motion seeking dismissal of the charges against her, saying authorities lack probable cause to believe she committed a crime.