Feds: Miami Man Who Used Grindr for "Hate-Fueled" Crimes Awaits Sentencing

A 21-year-old Miami man accused of robbing and assaulting victims he lured through the popular gay dating app Grindr is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to 17 federal counts.

Stevenson Charles was arrested in Georgia by the FBI in November after investigators determined that he had used the LGBTQ app to target victims whom he would kidnap and mug at gunpoint while mouthing hateful homophobic threats. He was extradited to Miami-Dade County late last year on federal carjacking and firearm charges.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Charles admitted to three separate robberies between October and early November 2022, including one in which he shot a man and left him clinging to life near a Miami-Dade County railroad track. Charles pleaded guilty the day of his scheduled trial on February 13.

While the initial criminal complaint in November described two robberies, an indictment returned a month later included charges for the third incident involving the shooting.

Charles faces a potential life sentence. He could receive a hate crime enhancement under federal sentencing guidelines.

The string of crimes began last October, when Charles invited a man he met online to his house in Miami, purportedly for sex, and immediately held him at gunpoint, according to the criminal complaint. He forced the victim to drive to an ATM to withdraw cash and then dumped him on the side of the highway, driving off in the man's car, prosecutors alleged.

The following month, Charles invited another man from Grindr for a would-be date, and when the man arrived, Charles jumped in his car, armed with a pistol, the complaint alleged. Inside the vehicle, he beat the victim and rifled through his phone, according to prosecutors. Upon finding pictures of the victim with other men, Charles allegedly declared, "I'm going to kill all of you."

Charles forced the second victim to drive him to retail pharmacy stores, where he racked up charges on the man's credit card, prosecutors alleged.

In the third incident, Charles met another man on Grindr in November and arranged to link up with him in Dania Beach, dangling the prospect of a sexual encounter. Once there, Charles pulled a gun on him and told him that he hated gay people and believed they should be punished, the DOJ says.

Charles forced the victim to drive to a home in Aventura, where the victim had been living with a couple. Brandishing his gun, he herded them into the victim’s car and directed them to ATMs to withdraw more than $1,500 for him, according to the DOJ.

After dropping the couple back at their home and stealing their phones, Charles then forced the man he met on Grindr into the vehicle to drive to a secluded area by the railway, where he shot him several times, including once in the head.

"Despite the injuries, the victim was able to call 911 and survived," a DOJ news release reads.

Charles is slated to be sentenced on April 24 by Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Huck.