Woman who played key role in a ‘To Catch a Predator' scheme resolves criminal case

Boston Globe

09-05-2025

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The case involved a group of Assumption students who allegedly conspired to lure a man to the school and kidnap him in an effort to expose him for seeking to have sex with a teenager.
Five students from the college had faced criminal charges, including a one minor. Three no longer face any charges after their kidnapping and related counts were dismissed by a judge.
The remaining defendants who face charges are Kevin Carroll, who faces assault and battery charges, and a minor student whose case is in juvenile court and not open to the public.
None of the students are currently enrolled at the college, school officials have said.
In court, Brainard's attorney suggested his client has been punished enough for what she did and said she hopes to move on with her life. Brainard appeared in court with her father.
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'It's been a monumental learning experience for a young woman,'
Todd told Judge Jennifer L. Ginsburg.
As a result of the national publicity in this case, Brainard has received threats from the public, and local police added patrols in her neighborhood to protect her, Todd said. She was terminated from a job she had while she was an Assumption student.
Calling her a 'bright, hard-working woman,' Todd said Brainard has since enrolled at a different college and is
working a law firm. She hopes to go into psychology or neuroscience.
'This was a very unfortunate incident in which she went along with a crowd when she shouldn't have,' Todd said.
He also suggested that Brainard's alleged misstatements to authorities were related to an 'aggressive' style of interrogation by campus police.
According to authorities, on Oct. 1, 2024, Brainard allegedly posed as a 17-year-old while chatting with a man on Tinder and told him to meet her at the college campus.
When the man arrived, students physically attacked him as part the 'To Catch A Predator'-style sting, popularized on TikTok. Authorities later said they found no evidence the man was seeking sexual relations with anyone underage.
Patricia Wen can be reached at