Girl who used Grindr to catfish her teacher for nudes found not guilty
Grindr is being used to sell drugs (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
A 16-year-old girl who used Grindr to “catfish” her teacher and get his nude pictures has been found not guilty.
The unnamed girl was acquitted of misdemeanour disclosure of private images of the teacher.
The student of Swanboro High School, in Jackson, North Carolina, had downloaded the gay dating app and posed as a male.
She then forwarded the picture two another man in her school, who was believed to have distributed the nudes to other students at the school.
The court decided that the girl could not be found guilty of wanting to cause deliberate harm because she did not distribute the pictures to more than one person.
Grindr (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Her lawyer argued that the teacher should not have had a reasonable expectation of privacy after sending images to a stranger.
The 16-year-old boy has not yet been tried for the same offence.
In Ohio last year a police force used a dating app to lure a 22-year-old and arrest him for crimes he was alleged to have committed.
The university student, named Albert Maruna IV, was targeted by police who used a fake dating profile to lure in the suspect, says the Hit and Run blog.
The police, who created the fake profile, began chatting to Albert Maruna IV, and then revealed that they were 15 years old.
Related: Grindr is making users sad, a study has revealed
A.G then said that he could overcome the age difference, and the fake profile began to send him nudes.
When the two arranged to meet, the police charged Albert Maruna IV with four offences – importuning, possessing criminal tools, disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, and attempted unlawful conduct with a minor.
But the police force have come under criticism for using unjust tactics to target Albert Maruna IV, as the perpertator didn’t start out looking for someone underage, say the Hit and Run blog.
“I don’t condone college students trying to hook up with high-schoolers. But interest from someone a few years over 18 in someone just a few years under 18 doesn’t necessarily denote deviant sexuality,” wrote writer Elizabeth Nolan Brown.
“This is especially when that interest is circumstantial. Albert Maruna IV didn’t start out looking for someone underage,” she added.
