ORINDA — When parents sit down with their teens to discuss internet safety and the dangers of meeting strangers online, being bound and tickled probably isn’t one of the conversations that comes up.
But, for a handful of teen boys in central Contra Costa, authorities say that’s exactly what happened.
Police in Moraga and Orinda are investigating a tip that involves at least a half-dozen boys being contacted on social media by a mysterious tickler with a proposition. He has been described by those who met him as a police and “businesslike” middle-aged man who offered the boys $600 to be bound, tickled and filmed at a pre-determined discreet location, authorities said.
Some of the boys acquiesced. And the videos started circulating on social media soon after, police say.
At least four boys from a high school in the Lamorinda area allegedly agreed to meet the man at a hotel in Alameda County. When they arrived at the room, he was ready for them, with cameras set up on tripods. They made small talk, then one by one, the boys’ hands and feet were tied up and they were tickled for 30-45 seconds on a bed. The man would occasionally stop to ask if they were ok and allowed them to take breaks in between each tickling session, authorities said.
The man reportedly told the teens that the videos were for his “personal collection” and afterwards he paid the boys in cash. This meetup occurred last year, police said.
Police learned of this disturbing encounter last month, when the man reportedly reached out to two more teen boys in the Lamorinda area.
This time, the man said he was looking to pay $600 to boys willing to undergo the same treatment and $100 for referrals to other boys, adding that he hoped to find subjects who were “very ticklish,” authorities said. The proposition came with a video of teens being tickled, and the videos reportedly began circulating around Miramonte High School in Orinda and Campolindo High School in Moraga soon after.
Police have launched an investigation. While the California penal code does not explicitly forbid tickling teens, if either the tickling or the filming was done to serve a sexual desire, it could violate any number of federal and state laws. Thus far, police have not announced any arrests nor said if they’ve identified the tickler.