Why is it that Grindr seems to bring out the worst in people even while getting everyone laid?
Two men in the U.K. have been jailed after allegedly blackmailing a married man they met on the popular dating app.
In a Swindon Crown Court last week, 29-year-old Daniel Edwards and 30-year-old Kristofer Wagner admitted to the charge. According to court documents, Edwards exchanged photos and messages with the victim before asking if he was married. When he told him that he was, Edwards then threatened to forward their conversation and his pictures to his wife.
Related: Mother Opens Grindr, Finds Her Husband’s Headless Torso In Their Bathroom
Edwards demanded £2,000 (approx. $3,140 USD) for his silence. The victim agreed to £1,500. Edwards then called Wagner and the pair went to collect the cash, but not before printing out the Grindr conversations to give to the victim’s wife just in case he tried to stiff them.
After handing over the money, the victim called police, who promptly arrested the men. They found the cash, along with the printed conversations, in their car.
After confessing to the scheme, Edwards was sentenced to two years and 10 months behind bars, and Wagner to 20. Afterwards, prosecutor Kate Lewis told media: “This case shows that homophobia can exist even in a situation where it is least expected.”
Lewis continued: “We considered the case as a homophobic hate crime because of the perception that the defendants were motivated by hostility towards the victim because of his sexuality.”
Moral of the story: Be polite to the people you meet on Grindr!
Related: EXCLUSIVE: Grindr Screenshots Reveal Antigay Pastor Is A Top Who Likes To Cuddle
h/t: The Mirror
Lewis Kinslayer
Assholes!
Grant Mealey
Well maybe if there weren’t so many of them lookin for dudes ð??³
Hawg G Wilde
There is no maybe…smh
Les White Pigeon
That’s not cool.
Daniel Williams
I don’t approve of men/women or anyone cheating on their respective partners in any way, shape or form, but blackmailing someone is just as filthy!!!!!! LIVE and LET LIVE, or better yet, as ma gurrrl Alyssa Edwards says, “get a grip, get a life & get over it!!!!!”
bottom250
So cruel. Honey this is just cruel and unusual punishment. These men desire sex with you and you should provide that service to these men.
SportGuy
They would not have this problem if they weren’t trying to cheat and were honest with their wives.
Glücklich
I get spanked for lambasting the straight guy-light saber tripe but some bullshit spell caster spam clings like a barnacle to every other post up in this bitch? Who’s minding the store?
http://tosh.cc.com/video-clips/jgavu7/nigerian-embassy
onthemark
Of course, a large minority of the Queerty commenters will think this is a great idea as long as they don’t ask for money!
Queerty, where do you GET all these deranged prudes in the comments? Do you time-travel to the 17th century? At times it’s easy to forget we’re on a gay site and haven’t accidentally stumbled onto a right-wing Christian site. Sometimes I have to double-check the headlines. Fortunately I’ve never encountered gay guys like them in actual gay life (I suspect they don’t get out much!).
DDstar1me
@onthemark ….certainly not me. I think this type of behavior is reprehensible. Both parties are sure to blame. However, there is a terrible trend going on of gay men looking to out str8 guys. It’s very dangerous and I believe it may set the gay community back. This just adds fuel to the fire of hate already burning towards gay people. I don’t believe in karma myself, but, I do think one’s conscience will weigh heavy in the end.
Aromaeus
I really don’t understand why stories like this get covered and not the passing of civil rights leaders, especially when those leaders fought for LGBT rights. :/
DDstar1me
@Aromaeus …because important news doesn’t sell to an audience like fictitious ones.
Glücklich
@Aromaeus:
Write your own story and post it. I’m not trying to be an asshole but it’s like you’re expecting Us Weekly to write a feature on Kissinger when he dies. Accept the fact this isn’t a hard-hitting news site.
Now if Queerty doesn’t throw up a banner headline when Johnny Weir breaks a nail, they should all turn in their press credentials.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/17/us/julian-bond-former-naacp-chairman-and-civil-rights-leader-dies-at-75.html
pfm6155
Let’s call a spade a spade here. Truly the actions of mean little GIRLS.
oldbrit
Maybe the scumbucket victim shouldn’t be running around on his wife without her agreement. He probably doesn’t even use safe-sex and will bring home a nasty little present to his wife.
I don’t condone the blackmail. Outing is much cleaner. Just send the messages to wifey and forget the blackmail.
NateOcean
“After confessing to the scheme, Edwards was sentenced to two years and 10 months behind bars, and Wagner to 20.”
“20” What?
20 Years? 20 Months? 20 Minutes? 20 lashes with a wet noodle?
billforsyth
Whether the man was cheating on his wife or not is irrelevant to the article .Whilst adultery or cheating are unethical or immoral neither are illegal extortion and blackmail however are and therefore fall into the sphere of the criminal justice system . The courts in the United Kingdom are not the place for moral judgements or condemnation but for the administration and execution of the law . The UK is not a theocracy
Evji108
Why is it necessary to reveal marital status in order to meet someone on grindr, and how did they get his actual name? It’s just stupid to to give your real name out to a stranger on grindr.
Don’t give your Facebook name either, I know someone who gave their full name to a grindr contact only to be threatened with outing them to all their Facebook friends. You probably don’t want screenshots of your grindr conversations and photos being sent to your mother, your colleagues at work and anybody else in your friends list, This is a real thing, people can contact your friends on your friends list even if they aren’t your Facebook friend.
Michael Feather
Gay reparative therapy has been banned, but what about the other way around? Maybe we should have programs to help LGBT people who were taught damaging conservative values learn to accept themselves.
PamelaMcIntosh1234
???? Start your home business right now. Spend more time with your family and earn. Start bringing 78$/hr just on a c0mputer. Very easy way to make your life happy and earning continuously. Start here….+++++++++++++++++++++
www.CareersToday50.com
808Skinhead
So for the defenders of these jerks criminal activities, what if the cheating man was married to another man? Would it have been different for you if they’d have continued with their scheme to blackmail the man and tell his husband (assuming the husband wasn’t aware of the cheating and wasn’t ok with it either) or would you continue to sympathize with the criminals?
For the sake of assumption, being a same-sex situation to a heterosexual one, how would it differ in making one okay for blackmail but not the other?
BigG
Grindr is awful I was on that for a week and I got like 4 death threats, offers for drugs etc. apparently if you reject somebody on Grindr they can’t handle rejection and literally flip the hell out. I’ll stick with growlr.grindr is where the psychos are
Clark35
I’m not surprised that people on Grindr and other hook up apps do this.
ingyaom
So, did the wife find out? Hard to believe they could keep this quiet.
Celtic
As a gay man for 47 years who kept everything as private as possible when younger (and, in fact, still do) I find such behavior absolutely deplorable and disgusting. Not too many years ago, this tactic could have been (and might still be) used against gay men. These blackmailers are nothing but decrepit gay trash and should suffer miserably.
Brian
How do you know the assailants are gay-identifying? If they don’t choose to identify as gay, then they are not gay.
I see them as awful men, not gay men or straight men or any other variation of identity politics. It’s time you did too.
jwtraveler
@SportGuy: That’s a personal matter. Blackmail is a criminal matter. They belong in prison.
wade.l
Were the blackmailers gay or straight?
Patrick Healey
Glad they were arrest. Got what they deserved. Karma’s a bitch!!!
Sukhrajah
[QUOTE] After confessing to the scheme, Edwards was sentenced to two years and 10 months behind bars, and Wagner to 20. [/QUOTE]
I am a little confused. Did Wagner receive a sentence of 20 years, or 20 months? I hope that it is is the latter, because the first seems a bit excessive.
Nonetheless, I do sympathize with the victim in one respect, which was that the perpetrators of the crimes did ultimately get what they wanted – and outed him. Sad, but this is the danger associated with meeting men in this manner, I guess.