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Louisiana man pleads guilty in plot to kidnap, murder and dismember gay men he met on Grindr
A man from Louisiana has admitted to kidnapping a gay youngster he met on the LGBTQ hookup app Grindr with the purpose to kill him and then dismember his body The Department of Justice stated on Thursday that 21-year-old Chance Seneca pled guilty to one count of kidnapping in connection with the incident that occurred in June of 2020.
Seneca also admitted that he planned to murder Holden White, who was 18 at the time, “to satisfy his homicidal inclinations.” He went on to say that he intended to keep killing people until he was either apprehended or killed. White was brutally attacked and put into a coma for three days, but he managed to pull through. According to a second FBI statement, in the same week that Seneca attacked White, he also attempted to kidnap another man and successfully kidnapped a third.
“The facts surrounding the events that took place in this case are exceedingly unsettling,” said Brandon B. Brown, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana. The fact that the victims of this defendant’s brutal crimes are still alive is nothing short of a miracle. When people are hurt by defendants like this, we will not stop fighting for their right to justice.
White informed The Acadiana Advocate in 2019 that he and Seneca met on Grindr in 2020 while they were both minors. The two have been in contact for almost a month and have agreed to meet in late June of 2020. In an interview with a local media station, White explained that he and Seneca had their first meeting at Seneca’s father’s house after White had declined Seneca’s request to visit his new flat. White reported that after some light conversation inside, Seneca pulled him backward with a cord and choked him so hard that “all the blood vessels in my face exploded” and he passed out.
“Well, this is it,” he recalled telling The Acadiana Advocate. “The last thing I told myself was’stay cool,'” she said. I kept telling myself, “Keep cool, stay calm,” over and over again in my thoughts. According to an affidavit made public last year, Seneca then contacted 911 and reported killing a guy “in a self-described endeavour to be committed into a mental facility.” When police arrived, they arrested him on suspicion of attempted second-degree murder.
On Thursday, federal prosecutors claimed that life in jail was the maximum penalty for Seneca’s kidnapping crime. They said that Seneca’s legal risks increase if the court finds that he targeted White because of his sexual orientation. “The conduct and intents of the defendant in this case were appalling,” said Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
Everyone in the United States, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation, should feel comfortable using the internet. We will continue to track down and prosecute those who use the Internet to harass, abuse, or otherwise victimise people. The gay social networking app Grindr, which launched in 2009, has been the subject of significant criticism over security and privacy issues. The situation in Louisiana is just one of several reported examples of Grindr being used to specifically target LGBTQ guys.
Probably the most well-known example involves Stephen Port, who was called “The Grindr Killer” after he drugged, raped, and murdered four men he met on the app. Port was given a life sentence in 2016. It was widely reported in 2018 that Egyptian authorities and citizens have utilised Grindr and other dating apps to entrap and prosecute homosexual persons. Also, in December of 2017, a Texan was sentenced to 23 years in federal prison for using the LGBTQ dating app to commit a string of robberies, carjackings, and other crimes in the Dallas area.
Users are encouraged to meet in a public place, such as an LGBTQ+ friendly cafe, and to watch what they bring with them, as stated in Grindr’s safety standards. Please let someone you trust in on who you’re meeting, where you’re going, and when you expect to return. A request for comment from NBC News was met with silence from Grindr in the wake of Seneca’s guilty plea.
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On Thursday, federal officials announced that a Louisiana man who had been accused of using a popular dating app to plot the murder and dismemberment of gay men has pled guilty to one count of kidnapping Over the course of two days in June 2020, Chance Seneca, 21, allegedly kidnapped two men he met on Grindr and attempted to kidnap a third; at least one of his victims was targeted because of his sexual orientation, according to police.
It was also revealed that he “planned to dismember and store bits of the victim’s body as trophies, memories, and food,” according to the investigation team. Six accusations, including hate crime, kidnapping, weapon, and obstruction, were brought against Seneca, who was 19 at the time.
His trial was originally set to begin on March 14, 2022, after being indicted by a federal grand jury that same month; but, U.S. District Judge Robert Summerhays granted a defence motion for a delay in February so that his attorneys could negotiate a plea bargain. As stated in his guilty deal, Seneca used Grindr to kidnap and attempt to murder Louisiana State University student Holden White on June 20, 2020.
