‘Her life will never be the same’: WA family sues Roblox over sexual exploitation of 12-year-old daughter

A Snohomish County family filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Roblox Corporation, accusing the video game platform of prioritizing financial gain instead of protecting their then 12-year-old child from sexual exploitation by an online predator.

The lawsuit aims to hold Roblox accountable for “recklessly” and “deceptively” operating its business in a way that led to the sexual exploitation of the plaintiff, according to court documents.

The plaintiffs alleged the 12-year-old girl was targeted by a man who posed as a child, gained the trust of the girl, and coerced her into sending sexually explicit images of herself.

“As a direct result of Defendant’s reckless disregard for child safety, plaintiff has suffered devastating and life-altering psychological trauma. Her life will never be the same,” the complaint stated.

As a result, the plaintiff suffered “unimaginable harm,” and hers is only one of countless cases of children who have been subjected to sexual exploitation at the hands of Roblox’s defectively designed app, according to the complaint.

Roblox hosts millions of young users daily

In Roblox’s 2024 Annual Report, an average of 82.9 million users used the platform daily. Of those active users, 20% were under the age of nine, 20% were ages 9-12, and 44% were 17 years old or older.

The lawsuit claimed that, as early as 2010, virtual games on Roblox hosted and promoted sexually explicit content, with developers being able to manipulate avatar activity in a way that simulated sexual activity.

Some of these virtual game experiences included “condo games,” where users can remove an avatar’s clothing, revealing nudity, and enabling “disturbing” simulated sexual activities, according to the complaint.

Another game mentioned was the “Public Bathroom Simulator Vibe,” which allowed access to users as young as nine years old. This game allegedly enabled users to simulate sexual activity in a virtual bathroom, as well as virtual strip clubs where avatars would perform sexually explicit acts like lap dances.

“Through numerous well-documented and publicized cases, Roblox has long been aware of the systemic exploitation that its app enables and facilitates,” the complaint stated. “For years, countless children have been sexually exploited and abused by predators they met on Roblox.”

Roblox rooms used to trade child pornography

Aside from game experiences, investigative reports found that a search for “adult” on the Roblox platform revealed a chat-room group of more than 3,300 members “openly trading child pornography and soliciting sexual acts from minors.”

After tracking members’ activity from the previously mentioned group, additional groups engaged in similar activity were found, including a group with 103,000 members.

Keyword searches for Roblox character usernames also revealed several profiles named after Earl Brian Bradley, “one of the most prolific pedophiles ever,” who raped and molested hundreds of children.

The lawsuit also alleged that Roblox prioritized revenue and user growth, rather than prioritizing enhanced child safety.

“In pursuit of growth, Roblox deprioritized safety measures even further so that it could report strong numbers to Wall Street. For instance, Roblox executives rejected employee proposals for parental approval requirements that would protect children on the platform,” the complaint stated. “Employees also reported feeling explicit pressure to avoid any changes that could reduce platform engagement, even when those changes would protect children from predators.”

Additionally, the complaint alleges that Roblox advertised itself as a safe platform for children, but systematically failed to provide proper safeguards.

“Had the defendant implemented even the most basic system of screening or age and identity verification, as well as effective parental controls, the plaintiff never would have interacted with these predators and never would have suffered the harm that she did. Plaintiff’s life has been devastated as a direct result of Defendant’s conduct,” the complaint stated.

Several claims are being brought against Roblox, including fraudulent concealment, negligent misrepresentation, and strict liability for design defects, among others.

The plaintiffs are seeking damages and requesting a jury trial.

Roblox provided a statement on the allegations.

“We are deeply troubled by any incident that endangers any user. Roblox aims to build a platform that sets the bar for safety online, and we prioritize the safety of our community. This is why our policies are purposely stricter than those found on many other platforms. We limit chat for younger users, don’t allow user-to-user image sharing, and have filters designed to block the sharing of personal information. We also understand that no system is perfect and that is why we are constantly working to further improve our safety tools and platform restrictions to ensure parents can trust us to help keep their children safe online. 

We also understand this is an industry-wide issue and we are working to develop industry-wide standards and solutions. For instance, Roblox is implementing an industry-leading policy to help prevent older users from communicating with children by requiring a sophisticated facial age estimation process for all Roblox users who access our communications features. We partner with law enforcement and leading child safety and mental health organizations worldwide to combat the sexual exploitation of children and are a founding member of the Tech Coalition’s Lantern project and the nonprofit Robust Open Online Safety Tools (ROOST),” a Roblox spokesperson stated.

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