TAMPA, Fla., May 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The family of a 16-year-old girl allegedly murdered after being targeted by a 35-year-old male on the Grindr hook-up app has filed a lawsuit against Grindr, LLC, alleging the company's inadequate age-verification system, sexually explicit promotional material, and youth-sexualizing advertisements directly contributed to the child's death.
The complaint alleges that on or about February 14, 2025, the child accessed the Grindr app, where the 35-year-old man located her and ultimately killed her. According to the Complaint, the child endured a week of sexual assault and torture before she was murdered and her remains desecrated and disposed of, leaving her family without a proper burial.
Although Grindr markets itself as the largest social networking app for gay, bisexual, and trans people, court documents cite surveys showing its user base is sexually diverse, with many users identifying across a spectrum of sexual orientations.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, alleges that Grindr lures children with inadequate age verification and attracts predators with sexually explicit promotions and ads featuring extremely young-looking models.
Court documents state Grindr enables quick hookups by pinpointing a user's real-time location within feet, endangering minors who pass its lax age verification relying on self-reported dates of birth."
The lawsuit claims that years before the child's murder, there were numerous public warnings that underage children were accessing the Grindr app through its inadequate age verification.
The Complaint seeks $150 million in compensatory damages and up to $600 million in punitive damages for Grindr's allegedly improper profit motive in making the app accessible to children.
The plaintiff also seeks injunctive relief, requesting that the Court order Grindr to implement reasonable age verification measures and prohibit the company from making safety claims that the plaintiff alleges are misleading.
"Grindr chose not to implement reasonable age verification technologies," stated attorney Lorne Adam Kaiser of Kaiser Romanello Accident & Injury Attorneys. "We aim to cause change to prevent future tragedies."
For media inquiries, contact Lorne Adam Kaiser at 844-877-8679.
The allegations in this release are derived from publicly filed court documents. Grindr has not yet responded to these claims, and the assertions remain untested in court.
SOURCE Kaiser Romanello, P.A.
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