Five students at Assumption University who face kidnapping and conspiracy charges in connection with what prosecutors have described as a TikTok-inspired plot to frame a man as a predator made brief appearances in a Worcester courtroom Thursday morning.
Kelsy Brainard, Kevin Carroll, Easton Randall, Joaquin Smith, and Isabella Trudeau all entered pleas of not guilty to the conspiracy and kidnapping charges. Brainard faces an additional charge of intimidating a witness/juror/police/court official related to misleading investigators. Carroll faces a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
All five were released on personal recognizance and ordered to stay away from and have no contact with the person accusing them in the case. They will return to court for a pre-trial hearing on March 28.
The students did not speak during their appearances and left court without speaking to reporters. Prosecutors did not discuss the accusations against the students during the arraignments.
A lawyer representing Trudeau filed a motion to dismiss the charges against her, but it was not argued Thursday. In the motion, he argues there was insufficient probable cause to charge Trudeau, claiming she is not mentioned in the statement of facts, which he notes is the same in each case.
While Trudeau's name appears in the filing, it is only in reference to Randall naming her as a co-conspirator.
Prosecutors say the students, along with one unnamed person under the age of 18, lured an 18-year-old man to campus on the promise of a hook-up before accusing him of being a pedophile, assaulting him and chasing him off the Worcester university's campus.
On Oct. 1, prosecutors say, Brainard reported to staff at the university that a "creepy guy" had come to campus to meet a 17-year-old girl.
She told staff from the university's Res-Life department the man was making her feel creepy, and she texted a friend, Randall, to help her.
Randall then chased the man off campus, according to Brainard's description of events.
During a police interview, Brainard reiterated what she told other staff at the university. Officers attempted to locate the "predator" but couldn't find anyone.
Assumption police later received a report from police in Worcester that they were aiding an 18-year-old man who reported being in contact with Brainard on Tinder and making plans to hook up on campus.
"He reported he was led into the building by Ms. Brainard and was there only for a few minutes when a group of people came out of nowhere and started calling him a pedophile and [saying] that he liked having sex with 17-year-old girls," a police report of the incident reads.
The man told police he was chased by a group of 25 people up a flight of stairs to his car, where he was assaulted and had his car door slammed on him. He fled the campus and called the police.
Surveillance video from the area shows the man and Brainard entering the building before he is seen running up a flight of stairs and being chased by a large group. That included Brainard, who had their phones out, recording the chase.
"A few minutes later you see the group coming back in, laughing and high-fiving with each other," police wrote.
Police later obtained first-person videos taken during the time Brainard and the man were in the building and during the chase, which they say showed Brainard fabricated the story about a sexual predator on campus.
Instead, the videos show the pair seated on a couch watching a baseball game before a sudden influx of students arrives.
The man was "lured to campus to be caught as a sexual predator by a group of students lacking legal authority to do so," the police report reads.
As he attempted to flee, his path was blocked by a group of men, then as he ran up the stairs toward his car the man was hit in the head from behind, police wrote.
Police reviewed Tinder messages between Brainard and the man, which showed no indication he was looking for underage girls to meet. Brainard represented herself as 18-years-old on the app.
When police confronted Brainard about the false accusations, they say she continued to minimize her role in the events, claiming she didn't know what would happen and blaming Randall.
Randall said the incident started with the Tinder messages between Brainard and the man and that the idea of "catching a predator" came to mind while he was sitting with the group.
He explained to police that videos from the TV show, "To Catch a Predator," are big on TikTok but that this "got out of hand."
Randall, Brainard, and the other students facing charges, referred to by police as the "core group," used a group chat of students living in a residence hall to spread information about the man being a sexual predator, according to the report.
"It was the fabrication of the sexual predator allegation as reported on the group chat thread that provoked a rabid response from the students resulting in the unauthorized confinement of the victim and the subsequent physical assault and batteries," the report reads.
Police say the group continued to lie during interviews about the exact events of the night of Oct. 1, with Smith and Trudeau denying involvement and deflecting responsibility.
In a statement, Assumption called the behavior described in the police report as "abhorrent and antithetical to Assumption University's mission and values."
"While we cannot comment on the ongoing student conduct investigations and attendant disciplinary processes, Assumption University is committed to maintaining a campus environment where every individual is treated with respect and dignity -- including guests," a university spokesperson said. "We strongly condemn all forms of violence and misconduct, and we are dedicated to fostering a community where all individuals feel safe and supported."