A Brisbane man has been convicted and sentenced after helping lure, rob and assault a 70-year-old man through Grindr while pretending to be 15.
Cooper Roam Watt, now 20, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane District Court to robbery in company with personal violence.
He was sentenced to two years in prison with immediate parole, with a conviction recorded, and ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution.
Victim Lured Through Grindr
The court heard that Watt was 18 when he and two teenagers posed as a 15-year-old on Grindr and arranged to meet the victim at a park in Deception Bay on 27 January 2025.
The group had sent the man nude images they claimed were of an underage person.
When he arrived, he was assaulted, kicked and punched while on the ground and repeatedly called a “paedophile”.
The group then forced him to drive to an ATM and withdraw $3,000 before stealing his phone.
Judge Says Victim Was Targeted Because Of His Sexuality
Defence barrister Kerala Drew argued that Watt had played a lesser role in the physical violence than the two younger co-offenders and asked the court to consider his age, lack of criminal history and rehabilitation.
The younger teenagers were dealt with separately in the Children’s Court.
Judge John Allen KC accepted Watt had taken positive steps since the offence but said recording no conviction would be inadequate given the seriousness of the crime and the need for deterrence.
“The offending was also serious in that it was targeted against a person by reasons of his sexuality and it’s not justified by any vigilante motive,” the judge said.
Prosecutor Points To Online Vigilante Culture
Crown prosecutor Zachary Kaplan told the court the offence reflected a wider online culture in which young men are encouraged to lure people they perceive as paedophiles and then carry out vigilante violence.
He referred to online content that frames assaults as a form of “justice”, arguing that this case followed a similar pattern.
That context does not reduce the seriousness of the crime.
Whatever assumptions the group made about the victim, the court found that he was deliberately lured, assaulted and robbed.
Dating-App Attacks Remain A Serious Concern
The case comes amid growing concern about violence targeting gay and bisexual men through dating and social media apps.
Victoria Police say 113 similar attacks have been reported since January 2024, with almost 50 people arrested.
Police allege offenders in those cases posed as genuine users before luring victims to meetings, where some were assaulted, robbed, threatened or subjected to homophobic abuse.
The pattern has prompted calls for stronger safety measures, better reporting pathways and greater awareness among people using dating apps.
For LGBTQ+ communities, the message remains clear: being targeted through a dating app is not something victims should feel ashamed to report, and homophobic violence cannot be justified as vigilantism.
