College Student Still Uses Grindr after Hate Crime, Torture
An 18-year-old college student from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, says he's more careful after a Grindr hookup led to a horrific assault, but he still uses hookup apps, Insider reported.
"I use all the apps because I don't blame them 100% for what happened to me," Holden White, a Louisiana State University student, explained. Even so, "Since the incident, I don't go to their home anymore," White clarified. "I either meet them in public, or they come to my house, because I live in apartments and I have roommates, so it's safer that way."
Insider recalled that in June of 2020, White met with 19-year-old Chance Seneca after the two had chatted "on and off for a year" on Grindr.
White recounts that he had "agreed to be handcuffed by Chance Seneca, 19, because he was interested in trying something new," Insider detailed, "But then Seneca pulled out a loaded pistol," and "hours of torture" ensued.
White recounted that Seneca "began to strangle me, and that lasted for 30 to 40 minutes, to the point that every blood vessel in my face ruptured."
"He said he lost consciousness and woke up naked in a bath with six stab wounds to his throat," Insider detailed. "In an affidavit, an FBI agent said White's wrists were 'slit to the bone.' "
Added Insider: "White fell into a coma and spent days intubated in a hospital."
[READ MORE: Gay Photographer Takes You Inside The NYC Homes Of Grindr Profiles]
White had spoken with local newspaper the Acadiana Advocate in January of this year, detailing the harrowing ordeal and expressing frustration with how the case was handled. Among other things, White said he had not been informed that Seneca had entered a not guilty plea in a charge of attempted second-degree murder, despite having phoned authorities himself and saying he thought he had killed White. Nor was Seneca initially charged with a hate crime in the case, though a hate crime charge was added last January.
White offered a safety tip for using dating apps, Insider noted. "Try to do some research on the person by looking for other profiles on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, anything like that," White advised. "I had felt that I had enough trust for him, but I was mistaken."
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