SCHENECTADY COUNTY, NY (WTEN) — A Schenectady County family is suing the video game company behind Roblox. Court documents allege an adult sent sexual images to their young girl after grooming her online.
The girl, referred to as Jane Doe in court documents, signed up for Roblox when she was eight-years-old. Now twelve, she allegedly met a child predator online pretending to be her age. Their conversations eventually left the online gaming platform and continued over texts.
This lawsuit is the Dolman Law Group’s fifth complaint against Roblox. Partner Stan Gipe said a man groomed the minor, eventually texting her about sexual acts and sending sexually explicit images. “She kind of was smart enough to play along, was smart enough to find a photo of the internet that was not of her and sent it back in this case.”
Users under thirteen cannot directly messages other players but can chat in games if parental settings aren’t changed. Still, sexual predators have been using Roblox to groom children, according to Gipe. “I opened an account and within five minutes, I was walking around, interacting with other people on the platform as a twelve-year-old girl.”
NEWS10’s Anthony Krolikowski reached out to Roblox about safety measures. A spokesperson sent the following statement:
“We are deeply troubled by any incident that endangers our users, and safety is a top priority. We dedicate substantial resources, including advanced technology and 24/7 human moderation, to help detect and prevent inappropriate content and behavior, including attempts to direct users off platform, where safety standards and moderation may be less stringent than ours. While no system is perfect, Roblox has implemented rigorous safeguards, including restrictions on sharing personal information, links, and user-to-user image sharing, and prohibiting sexual conversations. We also partner with law enforcement and leading child safety organizations worldwide to combat the sexual exploitation of children.”
In addition, an AI-powered system has recently been added to help find dangerous interactions and then intervene. Users are also banned if caught talking about sex with minors.
“You have a young child that appears to have been groomed by a sexual predator and has suffered some severe emotional distress and trauma of the negligence of this large company,” said Greg Rinckey of Tully Rinckey PLLC. The founding partner added that gaming platforms like Roblox have to use proper safety features to protect kids from pedophiles and can be held accountable.
