Alleged predator arrested after student uses Snapchat gender swap filter on Tinder
13 June 2019, 16:02
A Bay Area college student used Snapchat's gender swap filter to pose as an underage girl named Esther to find men looking to "hook up" with a teen girl. A Bay Area police officer has since been arrested and charged with communicating with a minor to commit a crime.
The internet had quite a bit of fun with the Snapchat gender swap filter when it first dropped. However, one college student recently used the filter for something much more serious. A 20-year-old student named Ethan used the gender swap filter to catch a man who was allegedly looking to "hook up" with a teen girl, according to NBC Bay Area news.
In an interview with the local news station, Ethan explained how he used the Snapchat gender swap filter to pose as an underage girl named "Esther".
Ethan says he had the idea after a friend told him that they were sexually assaulted as a child.
After setting up a Tinder profile as "Esther", a man reached out. "I believe he messaged me 'are you down to have some fun tonight?," Ethan explained.
Ethan says that, while posing as Esther, he informed the man that she was underage. The two then allegedly exchanged "explicit" messages.
Ethan then handed screenshots of their conversations over to Crime Stoppers and a 40 year-old San Mateo Police officer was arrested as a result of the information.
The police officer was charged with communicating with a minor to commit a crime and has been placed on paid leave, according to the report.
"I was just looking to get someone. It just happened to be a cop," Ethan explained.
People reacted to the story on social media. "The guy that used the snapchat gender filter to try catching sexual predators on tinder is a hero," wrote one person.
