One of the two Dordrecht men who was threatened by a gang of youths after arranging to meet someone via gay dating app Grindr has himself been arrested on charges of grooming, the AD said on Wednesday.

The two men had made dates for the Easter weekend but on turning up for their meetings, both men were confronted by a large gang of teenagers. A 28 year-old-man was beaten up by the gang, but the other, who was 33, managed to get away.

He has now been picked up for trying to make a sex date with a minor, the paper said.

The AD says the youths claimed on Facebook that they were ‘paedophile hunters’ and that the Grindr dates were part of their ‘research’. The 14-year-old youth who was among the 13 teenagers arrested is said to have been used as bait.

All 13 youths have since been released from custody and no charges have yet been brought.

The second man involved in the attacks has issued a statement via his lawyer denying he had been aiming to have sex with a minor.