German Chavez was 14 years old when he first started using a gay dating app called Grindr to find adult men to pay him for sex. He needed to help his troubled single mother pay the bills, he said, and had no trouble finding men to purchase him on the popular location-based mobile app. Now 25 and years away from the sex trade, Chavez is warning other minors to stay away from Grindr, one of the most popular apps in the country for gay and bisexual men. But the app is teeming with underage gay, bisexual and questioning boys, according to researchers, child exploitation specialists and users like Chavez who say they can easily lie about their age to gain access to the service.
Some like Chavez are looking to find sex buyers to survive. But an investigation by the the GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting finds that too often the adult men they meet are dangerous and the encounters can lead to sexual exploitation, assault and trafficking. Since , more than men across the United States — including police officers, priests and teachers — have faced charges related to sexually assaulting minors or attempting sexual activity with youth they met on Grindr, according to a GBH News search of public records.
Among them, a Lawrence police officer is currently facing charges in Essex County Superior Court for allegedly raping a year-old he met on the app in The officer pleaded not guilty, and the next hearing is scheduled for August. He declined to comment for this story. And in , a Colorado man was sentenced to 50 years in prison for luring underage boys he met on Grindr into sexual servitude.
They pose as underage boys and then film their interactions with men who come to meet them. A Northborough man appears to have fallen into this trap last year. He is facing charges in Fitchburg District Court for allegedly attempting to meet a year-old boy on Grindr, who turned out to be a decoy. He pleaded not guilty, and a jury trial is scheduled for October. But for sexual predators, Grindr provides a space to find many real underage boys.
More than half of sexually active gay and bisexual boys between the ages of 14 and 17 find sexual partners on Grindr and other similar apps, according to a study by Northwestern University researchers. Grindr is by far the most popular dating app among teens, the research shows. Grindr is one of a dizzying array of apps, websites, gaming sites and chat rooms on the Internet where boys and girls are stalked by sexual predators, law enforcement and anti-trafficking specialists say.
