Florida Attorney General Launches Criminal Probe into Roblox Over Child Exploitation Allegations
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If your child experienced grooming, exploitation, or abuse on Roblox or another online gaming platform, SurvivorsRights.com may help connect you with an experienced attorney who understands technology-facilitated sexual exploitation cases. Our legal partners can guide you through your options for seeking justice and accountability.
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A 10-year-old sits cross-legged on the living room floor, eyes fixed on a tablet. In the next room, her parents are arguing about bills, unaware that their daughter has joined a world far more dangerous than they realize. She’s been playing a game called Roblox, one all her friends use. They’ve heard of it, maybe even read that it’s “safe for kids.” It looks like a creative playground where children can build their own games and chat with others. But somewhere behind the colorful avatars and virtual tokens, a stranger is watching. He appears to be another kid from a nearby school and messages her: “Hey, I’m new to Oak Valley Middle. You go there?” The chat turns friendly, then moves to another app where the rules are looser and the filters weaker. Within days, innocence turns to fear. The parents thought their child was safe. They didn’t know predators use Roblox as a gateway.
Roblox is one of the most popular online gaming platforms in the world, with more than 380 million active users each month. Run by Roblox Corporation in San Mateo, California, the platform combines social networking with user-generated gaming. Players create avatars, design worlds, and chat with one another using text and voice. While Roblox promotes creativity, its open-world format allows virtually anyone to interact with anyone else. That freedom, critics say, has made it fertile ground for exploitation.
October 23, 2025
Kentucky Family Sues Roblox and Discord After 13-Year-Old’s Death by Suicide
A Kentucky family has filed a federal lawsuit against Roblox Corporation and Discord Inc. following the suicide of their 13-year-old daughter, who was allegedly manipulated and groomed through extremist and exploitative communities on both platforms, Cincinnati ABC news affiliate WCPO Channel 9 reported. The lawsuit claims that Roblox and Discord enabled adults to access and prey upon vulnerable minors, prioritizing profit and user growth over child safety.
According to the complaint, the girl was drawn into an online group that glorified mass shootings, particularly Columbine, and promoted violence and self-harm. Despite parental controls, the platforms allegedly failed to screen predators or block extremist content, allowing the girl’s exploitation to continue undetected. The family asserts that Roblox and Discord’s inadequate safeguards directly contributed to her death and is seeking damages through a jury trial.
The lawsuit is the twelfth filed nationally alleging that Roblox exposes children to sexual and psychological exploitation. It comes shortly after Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman filed a separate lawsuit accusing the company of being a “playground for predators” and violating the state’s Consumer Protection Act.
October 20, 2025
Florida Attorney General Launches Criminal Probe into Roblox Over Child Exploitation Allegations
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued criminal subpoenas to Roblox, accusing the gaming platform of becoming a “breeding ground for predators” by allegedly failing to protect children from grooming and sexual exploitation. The investigation marks one of the most aggressive legal actions to date and signals a growing willingness by states to pursue criminal, not just civil, accountability for online platforms.
The move follows escalating concerns from other states and countries, and bolsters ongoing civil lawsuits filed by families who claim their children were coerced into explicit imagery and offline meetings after initial contact on Roblox. With regulatory pressure increasing and legal risks mounting, Roblox may find itself facing a wave of new cases and scrutiny around its child-safety practices. [READ MORE]
August 14, 2025
Louisiana Sues Roblox, Accusing Platform of Enabling Child Exploitation
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill filed a lawsuit against Roblox Corporation, alleging the gaming platform “created, curated and perpetuated an online environment where child predators thrive, unite, hunt and victimize kids.” The complaint claims Roblox failed to implement basic protections such as reliable age verification, parental controls, and monitoring of explicit user-generated experiences, citing games like “Escape to Epstein Island” and “Public Bathroom Simulator Vibe” as examples of exploitative content. The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief, restitution, and damages under Louisiana’s Unfair Trade Practices Act.
Unlike traditional video games, Roblox has no single storyline or age-restricted entry point. It is a vast digital environment where user-generated content, public chat functions, and private messages merge. Predators have learned to exploit these features. Lawsuits allege that they pose as children, lure young users into conversations, and move interactions off-platform to messaging apps like Discord, where oversight is minimal. Reports describe predators using in-game rewards, virtual currency known as Robux, or fake friendships to build trust before introducing sexual content.
Legal filings and public records reveal a troubling pattern of sexual exploitation linked to Roblox. In Georgia a family filed a complaint after their 14-year-old son was allegedly groomed via Roblox chat and later coerced into sending explicit photographs when the predator moved the conversation to another messaging application.
In Iowa, a civil suit describes a 13-year-old allegedly groomed on Roblox and subsequently abducted following contact made through the platform.
In California, a man was arrested in April for kidnapping a 10-year-old girl and travelling 250 miles with her after interactions initiated on Roblox and continued on a separate application. Matthew Macatuno Naval, 27, was arrested Sunday for kidnapping and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, according to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office.
These incidents follow a commonly described trajectory: a minor is lured into trust via Roblox, interactive chat shifts to a lesser-moderated application like Discord, grooming escalates to coercion involving visual content and eventually real-world or severe harm. Across multiple states hundreds of similar claims are reportedly under investigation, with legal experts predicting consolidation into larger coordinated litigation.
Mounting public outrage has prompted state and federal investigations. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced criminal subpoenas against Roblox in October 2025, describing it as a “breeding ground for predators” that profits while children are harmed.
Also in October, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman sued Roblox, alleging the platform exposes children to violent and sexual content, including simulations of recent real-world killings. The suit accuses Roblox of enabling sexual exploitation and using its in-game currency, Robux, to lure minors into harmful encounters, calling the company “a playground for predators.” Roblox disputes the claims, saying the complaint relies on “outdated and out-of-context information” and insists it works closely with law enforcement and safety experts to protect children.
And in August, Louisiana’s AG, Liz Murrill used similar language to describe the environment Roblox enables, alleging that its failure to implement strong safety protocols for children has made it “the perfect place for pedophiles.” Murrill filed suit against Roblox in August, accusing the company of negligence and failure to verify users’ ages.
Globally, Iraq banned Roblox after a high-court review concluded that it exposes minors to exploitation, cyber-extortion, and “practices incompatible with Iraqi traditions.”
Also in the Middle East, Israel’s World Organization for Early Childhood Education (OMEP) condemned Roblox for promoting theft and deception among children. There may be few topics on which Middle Eastern governments agree, but the dangers of Roblox appear to be one of them.
Roblox Corporation denies wrongdoing and says it has strengthened safety measures. In a statement to Reuters, the company said it prohibits the sharing of personal information, images, and videos in chat and uses filters and AI-based tools to detect harmful behavior.
It also claims to have made more than 100 safety enhancements recently, including facial-age estimation for all users who access communication features. “While no system is perfect,” the statement reads, “our trained teams and automated tools continuously monitor communications to detect and remove harmful content.”
However, critics argue that these efforts arrived only after years of preventable harm. Like Uber waiting until after thousands of reported sexual assault claims to implement basic passenger safety reforms, Roblox’s delayed response has raised questions about whether the company acted responsibly in protecting its youngest users.
Roblox faces mounting legal pressure from both state attorneys general and private plaintiffs who allege that the platform’s lack of safeguards has allowed predators to exploit and harm children. The most recent case, Seitz v. Roblox Corporation and Discord Inc., was filed in the Eastern District of Kentucky after a 13-year-old girl died by suicide following months of alleged manipulation and extremist grooming on Roblox and the messaging app Discord.
The complaint accuses Roblox of allowing communities that glorify violence and mimic real-world mass shootings to flourish unchecked, while also enabling adult predators to target vulnerable minors for sexual exploitation and psychological harm. It further alleges that Roblox has long failed to implement basic safety measures such as effective age verification or consistent content moderation, despite repeatedly claiming that its platform is safe for children.
According to the filing, this tragedy represents part of a broader pattern of negligence by Roblox. It is reportedly at least the twelfth lawsuit filed in federal court alleging that Roblox’s business practices have contributed to the sexual exploitation and endangerment of minors. These cumulative cases, along with ongoing state investigations, signal that Roblox’s legal troubles may be entering a new and more serious phase of accountability.
Churches, schools, and youth groups have long been held accountable for enabling abuse through inaction. Today, online platforms fill a similar role in children’s lives, often replacing traditional institutions as sources of social contact and trust. When those platforms fail to protect minors, the damage is no less institutional. Roblox’s vast ecosystem, combined with its predominantly child user base, means that its failures reverberate globally, blurring the line between entertainment and exploitation.
Parents are urged to take even small concerns seriously. If a child reports strange or inappropriate messages, believe them. Save chat logs, screenshots, and usernames. Report the incident both to Roblox and local law enforcement. If another app such as Discord is involved, report the behavior there as well. Limit unsupervised playtime, disable in-game chat when possible, and use parental control tools. Most importantly, seek support from child-advocacy organizations and legal professionals who understand the complexities of online grooming.
One of the most effective ways to protect your child begins with an honest, calm conversation. Ask open-ended questions like, “What do you like about Roblox?” or “Who do you usually play or chat with online?” Listen without judgment, even if what they say worries you. Explain that not everyone online is who they claim to be and that it’s okay to come to you immediately if something feels uncomfortable or confusing. Reinforce that they won’t be in trouble for telling the truth; your priority is their safety, not punishment.
SurvivorsRights.com typically focuses on institutional sexual abuse and assault. However, as the Roblox lawsuits show, the modern institution is often digital. When a company profits from children’s participation yet fails to protect them from exploitation, it bears responsibility similar to any brick-and-mortar institution. SurvivorsRights.com partners with attorneys who specialize in sexual exploitation, child-protection, and technology-related abuse cases, including those involving Roblox.
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Yes. Lawsuits across several states allege Roblox failed to implement effective protections against known grooming risks.
While many complaints have been filed individually, legal observers expect consolidation into coordinated proceedings.
Preserve all chat logs, usernames, images, timestamps, and any off-platform communications.
No. Many predators move conversations from Roblox to apps like Discord, where monitoring is weaker.
As of October 2025, there are no confirmed public settlements related to grooming or exploitation on Roblox.
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