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“He sent sexually explicit photographs and videos to the victims’ friends, family members (including at least one victim’s mother, at least one victim’s brother, and at least one victim’s sister), employers and acquaintances, and also posted sexually explicit photographs and videos widely on the internet.

“Multiple victims had not publicly disclosed their sexual orientation, which Uwadiae’s actions disclosed, contrary to their wishes.

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Activists say that the vulnerabilities of the queer community have been increasingly taken advantage of by scammer gangs using online dating apps.

“It is a big issue and they are able to successfully scam so many people because of homophobia that exists in the country, where a lot of people are not able to be open about their identities, and that fear is then exploited by these criminals,” Indrajeet Ghorpade, a LGBTQ rights advocate from the group Yes, We Exist India, told VICE World News.

However, many incidents go unreported due to fears of homophobia, hostility and even indifference from police.

“The accused gang had blackmailed several men in the past, who have shown interest through the Grindr app and other social media websites,” a senior official of the Anand police told the Indian Express. Police have seized a car used by the suspects along with six mobile phones, knives and cash. It can be quite difficult to unpick the data in order to try and identify who is behind it."

She suggested that apps need to collect more data about their users' identities in order to weed out "bad actors", but stressed that any changes need to consider privacy concerns,.

A spokesperson for Grindr told the BBC that the company "works diligently to provide a safe environment," including cooperating with UK law enforcement.

It said: "Identity verification can be a safety risk for people who are not out at work, live with unsupportive families, or face discrimination.

"We build our systems intentionally to minimise data collection while still supporting law enforcement investigations."

A spokesperson for the IOPC said: "We work closely with members of the LGBTQ+ community, holding regular meetings with representatives from various organisations to explain our work and better understand their concerns.

"Our thoughts remain with Mr Gough's family, loved ones and all those affected by his tragic death.

"The police were there, the neighbours were there. These stories ended up in the newspapers, and after a while, magistrates began to treat sexual blackmail as a form of robbery.

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Laws against sodomy dated to the 16th century in Britain, so why did soldiers suddenly start exploiting them for money in the 18th?

In February, three men were arrested in Ahmedabad city for robbing and beating at least 15 men after connecting with them on Grindr. Fashion student Liam McHale, from Buckinghamshire, lived just 15 miles from Mr Gough.

Nine weeks on from Mr Gough's death, the 24-year-old was found dead after researching fatal levels of drugs online and leaving behind a note.

The night before his death, he confided in friends that he was being blackmailed by a man he had met on Grindr, who was falsely claiming to be underage.

Mr McHale called the police to report it, but because he'd been drinking on a night out, they encouraged him to wait until the next day to file a report.

His mother, Julie Rice, told BBC News: "I told him I loved him, that he'd done the right thing telling the police and that he should enjoy his night out, and to call me if anything else happened.

Petty criminals looking for a quick buck have thus benefitted from entrenched attitudes of homophobic intolerance. Hamilton did pay Reynolds, but he later published the details of his affair in order to get Reynolds off his back (this strategy backfired).

Soldiers in 18th century London might blackmail someone only one time, but they could also keep going back to that person, demanding more and more money.

According to police, the victim was called to a hotel after one of the accused men befriended him through video calls. The U.S. puritanical culture was more concerned with adultery and interracial sex between men and women, and Americans blackmailed each other over these acts instead.

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news,entertainment,community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au.

The case is the latest in a series of sextortion crimes targeting the country’s queer community through online dating apps. It was almost like I was watching it happen to somebody else."

Mr Tewson said when he told police about suspicions his boyfriend had been using Grindr without his knowledge, he felt the officers' attitudes changed.

"When it came up in conversations I felt like it was just a complete disregard," he added.

Police documents later revealed that at the time of Mr Gough's death, the phone number used by the gang was already known to police and had been involved in at least one previous investigation into alleged blackmail involving the use of Grindr.

They also show that officers were able to trace the registration number of the car used by the gang to identify a suspect, but the men identified were never spoken to by police as potential offenders.

No DNA evidence or fingerprints were taken from the note left on the doorstep, and police didn't collect rubbish left at the scene by the gang for DNA testing.

No arrests were made following the blackmail attempt.

Mr Tewson has since complained to the force's professional standards department and to the IOPC about the handling of the case.

The IOPC report found that the attempted blackmailing of Mr Gough and potential links to his death had not been "robustly investigated," and that subsequent complaints about the investigation were also mishandled.

It upheld a complaint that the police made "several errors" following Mr Gough's death and "did not investigate [his] sudden death fully as a result".

The report also made a number of revelations about the suspected gang and how prolific their alleged crimes were.

It revealed:

  • Within 10 days of Mr Gough's death, police received two more separate blackmail reports involving the same phone number that appeared on the note left at his house
  • In both cases, the victims had arranged to meet someone on Grindr but were confronted by a group of young men who demanded money
  • The group later presented themselves as "paedophile hunters" despite not giving police any intelligence supporting this claim
  • Police treated the group as "individuals requiring safeguarding" rather than as potential offenders involved in extortion or blackmail

The IOPC has asked Hertfordshire Police to re-examine elements of the investigation into Mr Gough's death, as well as the force's handling of Mr Tewson's complaint.

A spokesperson for Hertfordshire Police said it "was unable to comment on the specifics" of Mr Tewson's complaint because "additional actions are being investigated" following the IOPC's instructions.

Supt Owen Pyle, Hertfordshire Constabulary's LGBTQ+ strategic lead, said the force was "committed to eliminating discrimination" against the LGBTQ+ community and that it wants to ensure complainants feel comfortable to approach the force.

According to one London cop, police in the 1950s “looked on homosexuals as a source of extra income.”

A Chicago man who used Grindr and other apps to blackmail gay men by threatening to out them and then carrying through on the threat has been sentenced to 52 months in US federal prison after pleading guilty to his crimes in May.

29-year-old Omoruyi O.

Uwadiae has been convicted of 22 counts of cyberstalking, using interstate communications with intent to extort, and unlawful transfer, possession, or use of a means of identification.

The sentence was handed down on December 10 by a federal District Court in Columbus, Ohio.

“Uwadiae admitted to obtaining sexually explicit photographs and videos from potential victims and then using the content to threaten them,” according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio.

“Uwadiae threatened to distribute the explicit material widely on the internet and specifically to victims’ friends, family members, employers and others.

“The defendant demanded money from some victims.

Upon his arrival, the gang secretly shot an explicit video of the victim and then threatened to release it on social media. We encourage our users to report improper or illegal behaviour either within the app or directly via email and to report criminal allegations to local authorities and, in these cases, we work with law enforcement as appropriate,” a Grindr spokesperson told VICE World News in a written statement.

For Centuries, Blackmail Was a Tool Used to Intimidate Gay Men

Sexual blackmail over sodomy wasn’t a trend in Britain’s American colonies, which would soon separate into the United States. An inquest into the full circumstances around his death remains open.

"It's a total blur," Mr Tewson said.

According to scholar Angus McLaren, it had to do with a shift in gender expectations.

“[A] new, middle-class model of domestic heterosexuality emerged, and Englishmen became increasingly concerned with maintaining a reputation of being attracted only to women,” he writes in Sexual Blackmail: A Modern History. Though the word “homosexual” would not be coined until the late 19th century, men who slept with men in the early 17th century began to develop their own subculture, and certain parks became designated places where they could meet for sex.

As laws, social mores and technology changed, so too did the sexual behaviors people blackmailed each other for.