Roblox Sexual Exploitation Lawsuit Alleges 10 Year Old Girl Coerced Into Sending Explicit Images for Robux

Parents say children can access explicit virtual worlds in Roblox designed by sexual predators, who flood the platform looking for victims.

A North Carolina mother says her daughter’s use of the Roblox virtual gaming platform turned into a nightmare after she fell prey to a sexual predator pretending to be another child online, a problem the product’s creators and developers are aware of, but refuse to fix.

The complaint (PDF) was filed by a “Jane Doe A. L.” in North Carolina Superior Court on August 21, as one of the latest in a series of Roblox lawsuits now being pursued by families and young adults nationwide, who say the platform has failed to take adequate steps to prevent grooming, harassment and sexual exploitation of children.

Roblox Corporation launched its video game construction set in 2006, allowing users to build their own games, explore player-created worlds and interact with others using customizable avatars and in-game purchases.

The app, and others like it, are marketed as safe and family-friendly. However, the manufacturer now faces more than 300 Roblox lawsuits filed by plaintiffs who say the company failed to take reasonable steps to protect children from sexual predators. 

Some of the claims against Roblox are similar to those being pursued in social media addiction lawsuits filed nationwide, which allege that the platforms are actually designed to addict users and prioritize monetization strategies over the health and safety of users, who are disproportionately young children.

Numerous parents of minors have accused companies such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok of intentionally designing their platforms in ways that take advantage of children’s vulnerabilities, resulting in excessive use, emotional harm, and in some cases, online sexual exploitation. The lawsuits further contend that these platforms lacked adequate safety controls or meaningful parental oversight tools.

According to this latest Roblox sexual exploitation lawsuit, A.L.’s daughter was ten years old when she was groomed by an online sexual predator who pretended to be another child, eventually transitioning to texts and convincing the little girl to send him explicit pictures of herself in exchange for Robux, the platform’s online currency.

The mother’s lawsuit criticizes the company for failing to implement even the most basic safeguards to protect minors, such as age verification, identity checks and effective parental controls.

“Her innocence has been snatched from her forever. Tragically, what happened to her is far from an isolated event.”

– Jane Doe A.L. et al v. The Roblox Corporation

The lawsuit notes that numerous children’s lives have been destroyed by interactions on Roblox, due to the app’s defective design, which is more focused on maximizing unhealthy levels of engagement in children instead of protecting them.

Roblox virtual worlds can vary widely in appearance and intent, with some being clearly focused on explicit adult activities, and providing the users with unfettered tools that allow them to create in any way they wish. However, these design features have made the app a target for child sexual predators, who do not have to verify who they are, and are able to specifically target and groom children with no safeguards to prevent it.

Numerous children have had their avatars virtually raped on the platform by predatory users who knew how to manipulate the rules and Roblox tools, sometimes as horrified parents watched. The site even allows users to host virtual worlds that include strip clubs staffed entirely by child avatars and worlds with names like “Escape to Epstein Island” and “Diddy Party,” referencing performer Sean Combs’ recent legal troubles.

The mother’s lawsuit argues that Roblox Corporation is actively choosing to allow the site to be dangerous for children to increase its profits, even adding a virtual call feature in 2023, called “Roblox Connect,” which makes it even easier for adults to connect directly with children.

The lawsuit presents claims of fraudulent concealment and misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, general negligence, failure to warn, unreasonable design, negligent undertaking, strict liability and design defect. The mother seeks both compensatory and punitive damages.

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