Thomas Deane, 30, of Bonita Springs, Lee County, Florida, United States is a former teacher at Canterbury School in Fort Myers, Lee County. He was also an assistant lacrosse coach at the independent preschool – grade 12 school.

In December 2021, Deane allegedly met a boy on the dating app Grindr. The boy, who is younger than 16 but older than 12, is not a student of Canterbury School.

.

After meeting on Grindr, Deane and the boy allegedly communicated through Snapchat and telephone. They allegedly had several sexual encounters in the ex-Canterbury School teacher’s apartment in Bonita Springs.

On February 16, 2022, the boy’s mother sent in a complaint to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office in regards to her son being a victim of sex crimes. On April 6, 2022, Deane was arrested at his apartment in Bonita Springs.

Deane was charged with lewd or lascivious battery and lewd and lascivious molestation. He is no longer employed at Canterbury School, the school confirmed after his arrest.

Grindr was founded by Joel Simkhai, 37, in Los Angeles, California, USA on March 25, 2009. The company is headquartered in West Hollywood, California.

Born in Tel Aviv, Israel to Iranian Jewish and Yemenite Jewish parents, Simkhai was 3 years old when he and his family moved to New York City, New York, USA. In May 1998, he earned his bachelor’s degree in international relations and economics from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, USA.