Roblox Abuse Lawsuit Alleges Platform Prioritized Growth Over Safety of Children

Developers accepted putting children at risk of exploitation by sexual predators to ensure profits continued to rise, parents say.

The developers at Roblox are more concerned with the number of children who get on the platform rather than what happens to them, according to a mother who says a lack of safety measures led to the grooming and sexual exploitation of her teenage son.

A complaint (PDF) filed by a Pennsylvania mom, identified only as Jane Doe B.L., in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on October 28, says the popular app put profits ahead of player safety, by giving child predators access to potential victims for years.

Roblox is a video game construction set made by the Roblox Corporation, the lawsuit’s defendant, that allows users to build their own games, create customizable avatars, make in-game purchases and explore player-created worlds and games. It also gives players the ability to contact each other and, in some cases, manipulate other players’ avatars, forcing them to take actions outside of their player’s control.

Roblox Child Sexual Exploitation

In recent years, however, Roblox has become known as a child predator haven, amid hundreds of reports of children sexually exploited through Roblox, often by adults pretending to be other children. These include incidents where children were blackmailed into sending explicit photos and videos of themselves, or even abducted, raped and sex trafficked.

The mother in this claim, along with hundreds of other parents and now-grown former players who have filed Roblox child abuse lawsuits, say the game’s open chat features and lack of effective moderation resulted in a dangerous environment for young users that child sexual predators exploit on a regular basis.

In early September, the Roblox Corporation announced it was putting new safety measures in place by the end of the year to help with age verification and verify parental consent. In addition to the age verification, Roblox announced that it intends to launch new systems in the future that will be designed to limit communication between adults and minors, unless they know each other in real life.

According to the lawsuit, Jane Doe B.L.’s son, John Doe J.G. was 13 years old in 2024 when he was targeted by a male sex predator on Roblox, which was the teen’s primary means of social outlet.

Unimpeded by the program itself, the man pretended to be another teen child and groomed the boy into giving him his personal cell number and coerced the minor into trading explicit pictures and videos of himself. This has led to the boy experiencing life-altering psychological and emotional injuries, leading to repeated panic attacks and suicidal ideations and self-harm, his mother claims.

The lawsuit states that Roblox Corporation misleadingly portrays its platform as a safe and appropriate place for children, while knowing it makes those children “easy prey for pedophiles.” It argues that, until the most recently announced changes, the company had refused to invest in even basic safety features to protect against child sexual exploitation.

“The reason for Defendant’s unlawful conduct is simple: Defendant prioritizes growing the number of users of its app over child safety.”

– Jane Doe B.L., et a. v. Roblox Corporation

Jane Doe B.L. presents claims of fraudulent concealment and misrepresentations, negligent misrepresentation, negligence, negligent undertaking, negligence – unreasonable design, negligent and strict liability – failure to warn, and design defect.

Roblox Lawsuits Consolidation Motion

Last month, a plaintiff filed a motion with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML), calling for consolidation of all Roblox child sexual exploitation lawsuits in the Northern District of California as part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL). The motion argues that consolidation would prevent conflicting rulings by different judges, as well as duplicate discovery, and would serve the convenience of the Court, parties and witnesses.

If the JPML agrees, Jane Doe B.L.’s complaint would be consolidated with all other federal Roblox child sex abuse lawsuits under one U.S. District Judge for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings. However, the lawsuits will remain individual, separate claims. If there is no resolution or Roblox settlement agreement reached during the pretrial proceedings, the claims would be remanded back to their originating districts for individual trial dates.

Individuals who believe they or their children were harmed through Roblox can have their case reviewed by a Roblox lawyer to see if they qualify for a lawsuit or potential settlement. Case evaluations are confidential, and lawyers work on a contingency basis, meaning no fees or costs are charged unless compensation is secured.

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