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- A Louisiana man was indicted in federal court on charges including hate crime with intent to kill.
- According to the indictment, the man met the victim on Grindr, which he used as a "hunting ground."
- He also faces multiple charges of kidnapping.
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A federal grand jury in Louisiana indicted a 19-year-old man on Thursday after prosecutors said he kidnapped and attempted to kill a gay man whom he met on Grindr, a dating app for gay and bisexual men.
Chance Seneca was indicted and charged on six counts, including one count of a hate crime with intent to kill, possession of a firearm, obstruction by the destruction of records, attempted kidnapping as well as two counts of kidnapping in federal court in the Western District of Louisiana on March 18.
An FBI agent on the case said in an affidavit that Seneca admitted to using Grindr as a "hunting ground" in the alleged hate crime, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Insider. The LGBTQ dating app has previously been used in similar homophobic hate crimes and was reportedly involved in the murder of a 42-year-old man in Belgium earlier this month.
Seneca is accused of kidnapping two men and attempting to kidnap a third, according to the indictment. Investigators said Seneca also attempted to kill Holden White, whom he met on Grindr in June 2020 and communicated with via Snapchat. White was 18 at the time.
The indictment said Seneca "intended to and attempted to kill and dismember" White and planned to keep parts of the victim's body as "mementos, trophies and food." Seneca later called 911 on himself, according to the criminal complaint, "in a self-described effort to be put into a mental institution."
Seneca's attorney J. Clay LeJeune did not immediately return Insider's request for comment. LeJeune told The Advocate in January that his client was maintaining his plea of not guilty on the state charges of attempted murder and hate crime. Seneca is currently being held in state custody on a $250,000 bond.
According to a press release from the Department of Justice, Seneca could be facing life imprisonment if convicted on federal hate crime, kidnapping, and firearm charges. The federal attempted murder and obstruction charges carry a maximum of 20 years while the firearms charge carries five years, according to the Department of Justice.
White, who is now 19, told Insider on Friday after Seneca's indictment that while he believed the man was "getting what he deserves," he forgives him.
"But do I believe that my forgiveness should give you freedom to ever walk free? No," White said.
A representative for Grindr did not respond to a request for comment.