A Miami man has been convicted of kidnapping & robbing several gay men that he targeted on Grindr, prosecutors revealed Thursday. 21-year-old Stevenson Charles, pled guilty to 17 counts related to the crimes that took place between Oct. 23 and Nov. 6, 2022. In his plea, Charles admitted to targeting five different people that he met on the LGBTQ+ dating app.
The first robbery consisted of Charles inviting his victim over to his Miami home for sex. Once the victim arrived, he was threatened by Charles who was holding a gun, and then forced to drive to two different ATMs to withdraw money. Charles stole more than $1000 from the victim according to prosecutors
Charles later invited a different man that he had met on the app to a Miami location for sex. When the man arrived, Charles asked for his cellphone and started scrolling through his photos. Some of the photos showed the victim with other gay men. Upon discovering this, Charles hit the victim with his gun several times as he showed him the photos, saying that he was going to kill the other gay men as well. Charles then forced the victim to drive him to different pharmacies where he made several purchases with the victims credit card.
During a different robbery, Charles told his victim that he hated gay people and thought they should be punished. Charles then forced the victim to drive him to the victim’s Aventura home where he lived with a couple. Upon arrival, Charles pointed his gun at the couple and demanded money from them. The group were forced into the initial victim’s car and were instructed to drive to an ATM. After receiving $1500, Charles had the group return to the Aventura home where he stole the couples phones and then left with the initial victim. Charles instructed the victim to drive them to their Dania Beach meeting point but then had him stop by a secluded area where Charles shot the victim several times. Although receiving a bullet to the head, the victim was able to call 911 once Charles left and survived.
Authorities later found and arrested Charles in Atlanta. He’s now facing life in prison and the sentencing is scheduled for April 24.