JOHNSON COUNTY — A Johnson County family is suing Roblox for sexual exploitation, claiming a man began grooming their young daughter while she was on the gaming platform.
"She was 10 at the end of last year when she met him, who ended up being an adult predator," said Sara Beller.
California-based attorney Sara Beller represents the now 11-year-old.
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The Johnson County family said a grown man posed as a child on Roblox to groom the young girl through the app.
"The predator sent graphic messages to this little girl and ended up coercing her to undress on a video call and engage in sexual acts during these video calls," she said.
Beller said the family learned about it from the Department of Homeland Security.
"Notifying him [victim's father] that the photos and videos involving his daughter were found after the suspect was arrested in another investigation," said Beller.
The suit is one of at least 30 filed by the law firm claiming the company did not screen users. It seeks strict oversight of the platform, along with damages and a jury trial.
"We really want to create a systemic change on this platform," said Beller.
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation said it frequently sees predators on Roblox and other gaming platforms.
"It looks fun. It looks kid-friendly, and to be totally fair, a lot of the content there is kid-friendly, but the problem is the connection with other people. That's why they call it a predator's playground," said Tim Nester, VP of communications at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
"Would you say this year they are still a main platform that is leading to sexual exploitation," asked WRTV's Rachael Wilkerson.
Nester says he believes that children on the platform are still vulnerable to sexual exploitation.
"I would say as of this moment today, now, yes," said Nester.
Roblox said safety is a top priority for the company.
"This year alone, we've had more than 100 different launches for safety," said Dina Lamdany, Senior Productive Manager at Roblox.
She said Roblox is rolling out new protections to target chat features and age verification.
"When they complete an age check, we know what age group they belong to, and we're going to prevent them from chatting with anyone outside of similar age groups," said Lamdany.
Despite that, there is still concern with accountability.
"I am very curious to see what these new age verification, or I guess age estimation technology pieces will do to make it safer. We're going to test it out," said Nester.
"If a parent were ever just uncomfortable altogether with their kid using chat, for example, a parent could link their account to their child's and then disable chat, or you can see a list of who all of your child's connections are, and if you see someone the child doesn't know, you can block them," said Lamdany.
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation calls on parents to reach out to lawmakers to help make online gaming platforms safer for children with regulations, specifically the Child Online Safety Act.
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Rachael Wilkerson is the In Your Community reporter for South Side Indy/Johnson County. She joined WRTV in September of 2021. She is an Emmy award-winning reporter and 10-time Emmy nominee. In 2024, she was nominated by the National Academy of Television Arts & Science Great Lakes Chapter for her Daily News reporting. Rachael believes everyone has a story to tell and she’s here to make a difference in her communities. Share your story ideas and important issues with Rachael by emailing her at rachael.wilkerson@wrtv.com.
