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Man Arrested For Beating, Robbing Gay Men Using Dating Apps

Man Arrested For Beating, Robbing Gay Men Using Dating Apps

“We’re going to teach you a lesson.”

Police in Australia have arrested one of at least two men they believe responsible for the brutal beating and robbery of a gay man they lured using an online messaging app. According to a report in The West Australian, Tyler Dean Borinelli appeared before a magistrate court in Northbridge where he was charged with two counts of intent to cause grievous bodily harm for a March 22 attack. The attack was one of two serious violent attacks on gay men lured using various apps, the second coming on March 29, although police confirmed to OUTinPerthGrindr was not the app used in these two specific cases. Police have declined to release the names of the victims, one of whom later spoke with reporters about the attack.

The two attacks occurred at the same house currently under construction on Margaret Street in Gosnells, a suburb of Perth in Western Australia. Police say the suspects were lured to the address using the unnamed messaging app. Borinelli has only been charged for the attack on March 22, although the second attack remains under investigation and additional charges could be brought.

"Both victims, a man in his 40s and a man in his 50s, communicated with someone via the same messaging application and arranged to meet at an address in Gosnells," the Western Australia Police Force said in a statement. "The house was under construction and there were several men there. In each instance the victims were assaulted."

The attacks were brutal. The man assaulted in the March 29 attack described a horrific and unprovoked beating that left him recovering in the hospital for four nights.

"His bat was right behind his head and then he took a good swing at me and hit me on the side of the head," the 57-year-old victim said of the attack which left him with a fractured jaw and skull along with bleeding on the brain.

"We're going to teach you a lesson," he recalled one of the men saying initially.

Police confirmed the March 22 attack also left the victim with multiple injuries, but declined to provide any further details for now. Detectives reminded the public of the dangers "associated with meeting strangers in isolated areas" and the importance of remaining vigilant at all times when it comes to personal safety.

Last month, Charlie Caire, 20, pleaded guilty to charges of false imprisonment, aggravated blackmail, aggravated assault, and other charges for his role in the brutal, drug-frenzied torture of a man using an electric drill, taser, pruning shears, knives, and worse. His brother, Brett Caire, 36, was also charged in the attack and remains at trial. The two brothers created a fake profile on Grindr to locate the man they believed had molested the younger brother of a best friend as a child. The man was lured to a home in Murray Bridge last February, consented to being undressed and tied up, before the two brothers horrifically tortured the man. According to prosecutors, the molestation accusations against the elderly man were unsubstantiated.

Police have asked that anyone with information on the crimes, including any video footage, to contact Crime Stoppers by calling 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestopperswa.com.au.

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