Man pleads guilty to demanding money from closeted man he met on Grindr
Timothy Ruge is believed to have asked for up to 1,300 Australian dollars
By Steve Brown
A man has pleaded guilty with blackmail after he demanded $1,300 from a closeted man he met on Grindr.
Timothy Ruge, 34, from Melbourne, reportedly threatening to expose the unnamed Grindr user this year and after the threat, he demanded to meet the man at a local train station to hand over the money, The Age reported.
He is believed to have asked for 1,300 Australian dollars – the equivalent to more than £700 – in exchange for not outing the victim as being gay.
CCTV footages shows Ruge at the Southern Cross train station where he told his victim to meet him.
Court documents show that the victim was using the gay hook-up app to “chat and flirt” and started speaking with Ruge.
Ruge responded: “She’s pretty, you cheating bastard” along with an image of the victim’s fiancée.
The victim reportedly apologised before Ruge started to extort money from him by threatening to out him to his partner.
Ruge said: “Cardless cash me $500 now, then $500 in 30 mins ARE WE CLEAR? And I vanish.”
The victim tried to transfer $200 but claims the program he used kept crashing claiming that his fiancée “handles all my money”.
But Ruge replied: “Tick tock I’ll ask her for it then shall I. Tick tock.”
When they met at the train station, the victim gave Ruge $200 but Ruge continued to message him later that day asking for a further $300.
In May, Ruge’s apartment was searched by police and he was taken into custody and is currently on bail.
In a statement, the victim said: “I went home feeling like shit. I was freaking out my missus was going to find out.
“I am still on my toes. I still feel helpless and confused.”