An executor of the estate for Miranda Corsette, a 16-year-old Florida girl who police say was kidnapped, tortured and killed by a man and his girlfriend in February after meeting on a dating application, is suing Grindr for what is alleged to be their role in the murder.
In a May 18 lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the plaintiff, identified as D.W., who is acting on behalf of Corsette’s estate, accused the dating app of playing a role in the teenager’s death because she met Steven Gress, 35, on it in February. The victim is identified as M.C. in the lawsuit, and the details of the crime against her match those of what happened to Corsette.
Gress is accused of luring Corsette through an app before he and his girlfriend, Michelle Brandes, 37, killed her around a week later, according to police and court documents, which did not identify the app. The pair was arrested in March and charged with first-degree murder.
Gress was also charged with kidnapping and has pleaded not guilty to both charges. Brandes also pleaded not guilty. Their next hearing is set for July 8.
Investigators believe Corsette was staying with Gress and Brandes after she was lured to their home on Feb. 14. Following a dispute days later, the couple “repeatedly beat” and tortured Corsette while holding her captive for a week, before eventually fatally suffocating her, according to arrest affidavits.
Her body was then dismembered and discarded in a dumpster in Ruskin, Florida, court documents state. Gress and Brandes may be facing the death penalty.
The May lawsuit accuses Grindr of nine counts, including wrongful death, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and participation in a sex trafficking venture. D.W. is acting as executor of Corsette’s estate without having been legally appointed to do so, according to the lawsuit. It is not clear what D.W.’s relationship is to Corsette.
According to the court document, Grindr provides exact coordinates of users’ location, has a “minimal, unverified signup process,” and an “illusory self-reporting age verification,” exposing children to sexual predators.
“Grindr chose not to implement adequate safeguards to prevent minors from accessing its services,” the lawsuit says. “Grindr emphasizes user anonymity and confidentiality. The app does not verify username, sexual orientation, gender identity, or age.”
Grindr and an attorney for D.W. did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a January post on their website, Grindr explained the multi-pronged approach they used to keep minors and predators off the app, including age-restrictive settings, a mandatory age gate, reporting tools and a human content moderation support team.
In the lawsuit, D.W. accuses the dating app of purposely choosing not to use “industry-standard age verification technologies,” like facial age estimation, thereby guaranteeing the presence of minors on the app, which attracts child predators.
The lawsuit also cites examples, including an NPR story about a man who says he was sexually assaulted by someone he met on Grindr as a kid. It claims Grindr markets large age-range relations and prioritizes secrecy, including with its logo, which is “a mask superimposed on a dark background.”
“The trauma inflicted upon M.C. and the irreparable harm to her family are direct consequences of Grindr’s reckless disregard for the safety of minor children who are routinely preyed upon by adult predators who use Grindr’s platform and design as a trap,” the lawsuit states.
D.W. is seeking a trial by jury and compensation for emotional distress, as well as asking the court to urge Grindr to include age verification in its application.
