Ohio father shot man he lured via TikTok posing as 11-year-old daughter
Diego Montoya Gonzalez was charged with rape and pandering after the girl's mother found video evidence on her phone
MediaBias Comparison Desk
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised
This article was written at the MediaBias News desk from the one-paragraph digests an aggregator publishes for each of the outlets listed below it, together with 2 of those outlets' own reports read in full. How we do it
Dad poses as 11-year-old daughter on TikTok to lure alleged rapist to his home before shooting him x: Daily Loud
Photograph: IBTimes UK (embedded from source)
What this story says
- A father in Grove City, Ohio, posed as his 11-year-old daughter on TikTok to lure Diego Montoya Gonzalez to their home after finding video evidence of an assault.
- Gonzalez was shot twice and charged with rape, pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor, and obstructing official business. He pleaded not guilty.
- The father was arrested and charged with felonious assault and having a weapon while under disability. His bond was set at $100,000, while Gonzalez’s bond was set at $20,000 recognisance and $50,000 cash or surety.
- Police responded to the family’s apartment on 15 July 2026 after the girl’s mother reported finding video evidence of the assault on her daughter’s phone.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
65/100
Craft
75/100
Hype
35/100
6 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
Only 1 of the 6 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
On 15 July 2026, police in Grove City, Ohio, responded to a report of child sexual assault after the mother of an 11-year-old girl found video evidence of the assault on her daughter’s phone. The following day, the girl’s father posed as his daughter on TikTok to lure Diego Montoya Gonzalez to their home, where he shot Gonzalez twice. Gonzalez was later charged with rape, pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor, and obstructing official business.
The father, identified as Malik Chandler by the Daily Star, told investigators he intended to confront Gonzalez and call police but shot him after Gonzalez reached for a weapon. Chandler was arrested and charged with felonious assault and having a weapon while under disability. His bond was set at $100,000. Gonzalez pleaded not guilty in Franklin County Common Pleas Court and was released on a $20,000 recognisance bond and a $50,000 cash or surety bond.
Police said additional videos were recovered from Gonzalez’s phone, showing the sexual abuse of other children, including an infant or toddler. Chandler has a prior misdemeanour conviction for attempted breaking and entering and a dismissed strangulation charge from 2021 involving a girlfriend. Neither man’s case has been resolved.
What the coverage left out
None of the right-rated reports mentioned the additional videos recovered from Gonzalez’s phone showing the sexual abuse of other children, including an infant or toddler, as reported by IBTimes UK. The New York Post digest did not include the father’s name, criminal history, or the bond amounts for either man.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 1 time, most recently on 4 Aug 2026, 22:45, and will add the sides that appear.
How other outlets pictured it
Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.
Diego Montoya Gonzalez
Daily Star — embedded from source
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
1 rated outlet
- IBTimes UK led on the father’s actions as part of a broader debate over vigilante violence and the justice system’s handling of child predators. The report quoted a neighbour who said the father was visibly distressed after learning of the allegations, describing him as having seen texts on the phone and being unable to calm down. It also noted that local outlets had declined to name the father to protect the child’s identity.
- The report included criticism of the bond disparity between the father and Gonzalez, with local commentators questioning the county’s bond-setting process. It also detailed the father’s prior misdemeanour conviction and dismissed strangulation charge, framing the case as one that had divided the community and the courts over due process and parental instincts.
Centre
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated centre has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Right
5 rated outlets
- The Daily Star named the father as Malik Chandler and led on his decision to take matters into his own hands rather than wait for police. It quoted court documents stating Chandler intended to beat Gonzalez until police arrived but shot him after believing Gonzalez reached for a gun. The report included Chandler’s criminal history, noting his 2021 strangulation charge and 2017 misdemeanour conviction for attempted breaking and entering.
- The New York Post digest, which carried no original reporting, stated that Gonzalez was a 20-year-old man who allegedly raped an 11-year-old girl before being shot by the girl’s father. It did not mention the father’s name, criminal history, or the bond amounts set by the court.
Read it at the source
6 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
1Centre
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Right
5- Dad 'posed as daughter, 11, on TikTok to lure her suspected rapist and shot him' (opens Daily Star in a new tab)
Daily Star
- Dad poses as 11-year-old daughter on TikTok and lures her alleged rapist to home to shoot him (opens New York Post in a new tab)
New York Post — is New York Post biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Mom finds horrific videos of 11-year-old daughter, so dad lures predator to his home and shoots him, Ohio police say (opens ussanews.com in a new tab)
ussanews.com — is ussanews.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Mom finds horrific videos of 11-year-old daughter, so dad lures predator to his home and shoots him, Ohio police say (opens The Blaze in a new tab)
- Mom finds horrific videos of 11-year-old daughter, so dad lures predator to his home and shoots him, Ohio police say (opens Conservative Review in a new tab)
Conservative Review — is Conservative Review biased? Our profile of this outlet
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
