Man Who Used Fake Name on App to Lure Victims, Assault Them, Sentenced to 41 Years

A man who lured male victims through a dating app and then sexually assaulted them in Escondido was sentenced Thursday to 41 years in state prison.

Tobias Bartee, 29, pleaded guilty last month to three sex-crime felonies in connection with the assaults, which occurred between July and September of 2023. One that happened a day before Bartee’s arrest.

Police said he posed as another person on the app Grindr by using a fake name and photograph. When victims showed up at his apartment, Bartee would claim to be the roommate of the man featured in the dating app, then attack the men by restraining and sexually assaulting them.

While police investigated reports of “four different adult males that had been lured to an apartment in the city,” prosecutors filed charges against Bartee in connection with three victims.

Along with the prison term imposed Thursday, Bartee was served with 10-year protective orders prohibiting contact with each victim, identified in court only as John Does #1, #2 and #3.