Grindr crimes (FOI ref: 1995A/24)
Request
I have attached an FOI response which your force kindly provided on 3 March 2023 (Reference: 228A/23). This was initially given to a colleague, who passed it onto me.
This concerns the number of crimes reported to your force that include reference to Grindr (the dating app only) and whereby the victim of the alleged offence is under the age of 18. West Midlands Police responded with some information about the following cases:
- Abuse of children through sexual exploit
- Harassment
- Malicious communications (x2)
- Modern slavery
- Rape of a male aged 16 and over (x3)
- Rape of a male child under 13
- Sexual activity with child under 16 (x5)
- Sexual assault on a male 13 and over
- Stalking
Please confirm how the dating app Grindr was involved in each of these offences. That is, did the alleged victims use Grindr and that is how they came into contact with the suspect?
If this request is expected to go over the time limit, please limit your request to the sexual offences only, in bold (1, 5, 6, 7 and 8).
Response
Please find attached our response.