A former college administrator from Washington University in St. Louis has been accused of sexually harassing male students on Grindr.
According to the school’s newspaper, David Stetter allegedly used the app to send raunchy texts and photos of himself to multiple students while he was employed by the University as assistant director of fraternity and sorority life.
Stetter, who abruptly left his position back in June, purportedly asked one student to send him naked pictures of himself. Other exchanges show Stetter acknowledging that he knew that he was chatting with Washington University students, asking one young man, “you in a frat @ wash u?”
Related: Cyberbully harasses man with creepy notes after being rejected by him on Grindr six years ago
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
At least one student has filed a complaint against Stetter under Title IX, which protects students from sexual harassment at the hands of school employees, students, or third parties. The complaint was recorded and the student was referred to the school’s Relationship and Sexual Violent Prevention Center for additional support.
The school’s official policy on sexual harassment reads:
Sexual harassment is a form of discrimination that violates university policy and will not be tolerated. It is also illegal under state and federal law. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination based on sex (including sexual harassment and sexual violence) in the university’s educational programs and activities. Title IX also prohibits retaliation for asserting claims of sex discrimination. The university has designated the Title IX Coordinator identified below to coordinate its compliance with and response to inquiries concerning Title IX.
Two weeks ago, Rob Wild, associate vice chancellor for students, said Stetter’s departure was not related to the Title IX complaint against him, but he would not elaborate further on the matter.
School officials declined to comment on the story other than to say “the University does not condone sexual harassment of any kind.”
Stetter also declined to issue any comment.
Related: Four teens charged with running sophisticated Grindr extortion scheme that will make you shudder
h/t: Student Life
Spike
How exactly does one ‘sexually harass’ another on a sex hook up app?
Isn’t that the point of having the app?
Luc
I’m wondering the same thing. Everyone involved seems to have been adults. Was he able to blackmail, threaten, or cajole them using his authority? Is there something we are missing?
Rex Huskey
agree spike!
Kangol
If you are in a position of authority over someone, or are viewed as such, that could possibly constitute harassment depending upon the laws and statutes involved. That’s how. More simply, he should not have contacted anyone he knew to be a student at an institution where he served as a dean (and thus was in hierarchically superior relationship to the students).
Luc
But he wasn’t a Dean. He wasn’t even a Director. He was Assistant Director, in a position that sounds fairly superfluous. He wasn’t even a Professor! Did he have any actually authority over the students? what did he do that made a student (or students) so uncomfortable they claim he’s harassing them? Either there is more to the story, or something fishy is going on.
Berkleyguy
I agree 100%.
Paco
I’m guessing if he was hot then there wouldn’t be a story here.
I agree with the other comment. How does one get sexually harassed on a sex hookup app?
miserylovedme24
Actually, google him. He looks pretty hot. I’d definitely be interested.
WayDifferent
I guess we all certainly have different taste in men. He would be a second class gump where I’m from and by no means “hot”.
PinkoOfTheGange
Average white guy within 50 miles of an ocean.
Danny595
Another promiscuity success story!
ChrisK
You’re a broken record. Now go back back to sucking on your mama’s tit little boy.
WayDifferent
That very obvious “generou$” May-December relationship in $hotcago that resulted in yet another brutal stabbing murder by a professor just reeks of stereotype too. Gays just can’t keep themselves out of the Stone Age…or the news…anymore.
gayjim1969
Anyone can cherry-pick individual stories of harassment or murder when they appear to stereotype millions of people if so desired; the murdering of innocent LGBTQ people for no reason is a perfect example, but only people who give into their assumptions through the confirmation bias, which is the tendency to search for, interpret, focus on, and remember information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions do this. Those who choose to take in information around them and accept the need to change their ideas and behaviors because of them, realize that self-improvement does them the most good.
skcord
Ha! I thought the same thing at first, but if you google him you’ll find he’s actually very cute… Which is probably why he thought he could get away with it.
Heywood Jablowme
“assistant director of fraternity and sorority life.”
So what does he “direct”? Does he make sure the frat boys have enough carrots to stick up their butts? Does he make sure the sororities have enough anorexia and bulimia? Does he make sure there’s enough binge drinking going on?
Sounds like a crucial position.
WayDifferent
Was wondering the same thing. Sounds like some made-up position from a prior “generou$” dean or sumpthin’.
gayjim1969
Why don’t you get off your lazy behinds and LOOK IT UP?? Oh, I’m sorry, then you couldn’t make juvenile, vacuous comments, as you do on every story.
PinkoOfTheGange
Forgive him he must not of gone Greek or may even to Uni.
miserylovedme24
Ridiculous. These guys were on a hookup app. Whatever happened on there should have absolutely nothing to do with this guy working at the university.
WayDifferent
Except it was probably on the university’s WiFi.
surreal33
Due to the fact that Mr Stetter is an employee of the university, it is 100% wrong to proposition a student. Also, the fact that he did via a sleazy website is irrelevant. A university employee cannot ask for nude photos of a student under any circumstance. When the university is forced to pay a settlement to the student that should satisfy any doubts. Adult men should learn the “anything goes” attitude on hookup sites is not worth the consequences.
Luc
I’m inclined to agree with miserylovedme24. You don’t download Grindr without knowing what it’s for. It’s important to remember here that all parties are already adults, too. And Grindr comes with a “block” feature that one can easily employ. If Stetter was sitting there on the clock sexting students I can see how he would be fired. But we don’t know when this happened, or even really what the circumstances were. Was he “Grinding” at work? Was he trying to solicit sex for some sort of favors or influence? There has to be more to this story. Because right now, simply being fired for sexual harassment because you were sexting on a hookup app…seems a little unfair.
Spike
Another angle, do you know anyone that uses their real name in their profile on these apps? So what if the kid was a student and the guy worked for the University unless they exchanged contact info and communicated via text, how does one sexually harass an anonymous profile?
Billy Budd
Here in Brazil you can penetrate guys over 14 yo, but provided you do not have a position of power over them. If he were Brazilian, he would have been convicted by the law.
Heywood Jablowme
Uh – isn’t the average 15 year old physically smaller, and psychologically much more naïve, than the average ADULT? So there is always a “position of power” over them.
But thanks for reminding us, yet again, of how perverted Brazil is!
Heywood Jablowme
It’s amusing how Queerty commenters differ so much on these things.
(paraphrasing only slightly) ‘When I was 15 I knew exactly what I wanted and I seduced a 24 year old guy and come on every gay guy is like that so those old-fashioned ‘age of consent’ laws should be gotten rid of.”
(here) Oh dear, these poor pitiful ADULTS might be taken advantage of on a sleazy hookup app (that apparently, magically downloaded itself onto their phones) so therefore the older guy should go to jail! And the university should be fined! (harrumph)
Weird.
gayjim1969
Sure, because–in your mind–MILLIONS of gay men should have the same ideas on sex, but do you hold STRAIGHT men to the same standard? I hear straight men say ALL OF THE TIME that they had sex–or wish they had–with an adult woman when they were in their teens; it was a badge of honor to them. Many of them “became a man” because of it, and they say the same thing about the age of consent laws–for boys. You’re such a hypocrite.
gayjim1969
Not to mention that he was a university EMPLOYEE who shouldn’t have been asking for naked pics of them in the first place, and it sounds like it went beyond simply asking, being rejected and leaving it at that. I think there’s a lot more to the story.
Heywood Jablowme
@gayjim1969: I’m not saying that at all. Men can have whatever “ideas” about sex all they want. But age of consent laws exist for a reason. When I was 15 I was pretty naïve; if any 18+ guy had talked me into sex it would have been coercion. It might have been enjoyable at some level & still be coercion. Age of consent laws exist for a reason. Otherwise you’re out there with Milo Yiannopoulos explaining how much he liked having sex at age 13 with a priest. You have to draw the line somewhere. (Apparently even those Brazilian perverts draw it somewhere!)
You have it exactly backwards.
Age of consent laws are totally irrelevant to THIS discussion, anyway. The college guys are all over 18, they are ADULTS, they downloaded a sleazy hookup app (not that there’s anything wrong with that! – I love ’em) which as others point out, has a very easy BLOCK feature that even the dumbest college student should be able to figure out. Who gives a sh*t if this guy was the “assistant director” of whatever, he wasn’t even a professor, he had no “position of power” over them any more than a university janitor would have had. The whole thing is ridiculous.
“it sounds like it went beyond simply asking, being rejected and leaving it at that. I think there’s a lot more to the story.” Well, no. Block feature, remember? Unless your crystal ball can provide more info, it looks like there’s no more to the story!
Heywood Jablowme
Also you seem to be imagining a “straight” exception (re: those pesky age of consent laws) that does not in fact exist. Just in the past couple of years I’ve noticed a dozen or so news stories where an adult woman had sex with an underage teenage boy. In every single case… every… single… case… without exception, the woman went to prison.
PinkoOfTheGange
All participants in this story are above the age of majority.
So I am not sure what point you are trying to make with the false equivalency.
Milo making inappropriate comments * Vs some employee of the university hitting knowingly on students to the point that he makes himself a nuisance have absolutely no parallels.
*the specific one that caused the uproar must of been inadvertently left out in the above post, to paraphrase: all 15 y/o should do it; it would be good for them.