The NJ family sues Roblox, discord on sexual abuse of children

A family in New Jersey filed a lawsuit against Roblox and Discord, claiming that the lack of platform guarantees allowed a predator to sexually exploit and abuse their son and possibly dozens of other children.

The trial was filed on February 12, about five months after a 13 -year -old boy from Burlington County was forced to send nude pictures to a man from Somerset County.

Sebastian Romero27 years old, he was arrested on August 2 at his house in Somerset, according to the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office.

He was accused of the production of the first degree of sexual abuse materials on children, the second degree that debated the morals of a child, second -degree adhesion, sexual extort of grade two and other accusations.

The family claims that video and messaging companies have wrongly presented the safety features of their applications, according to the process initiated at the upper court of San Mateo in California.

The process claims that sexual predators use the Roblox platform to meet and care for children, then move to the discord, where they can discuss through text, voice and video messages.

Roblox and Discord spokes did not respond to a comment request on the process or arrest of Romero on Monday.

According to investigators in Burlington County, Romero contacted the 13-year-old in one of the Chat rooms of the Roblox platform and was aware of the boy’s early age.

The authorities said that Romero arranged a “sexual meeting” with the victim and threatened the teen’s family when he did not appear.

The investigation started in July, after the family reported the problem to the police in Cinnaminson.

The costume argues that companies have designed certain elements in a way that will allow Romero to sexually compel the boy and, possibly, more than 25 other victims of children.

File by PHILADELPHIA law firm Anapol WeissThe process claims that Romero initially offered gift cards for $ 10 teenagers in exchange for explicit videos and images.

The next day, Romero offered the boy a $ 100 Robux gift card in exchange for sex, and later proposed a $ 25 Robux gift card in exchange for a teenager, according to an Anapol Weiss statement.

Once the boy’s family discovered what was happening and that Romero knew their address in New Jersey, they fled to California, where the trial was subsequently filed.

A search warrant executed at Romero’s residence has discovered evidence that the man had exploited more than 25 minors, according to lawyers representing the boy’s family.

The process claims that the child has suffered “mental suffering, emotional stress, psychological trauma” and other irreparable damage.

Both Roblox and Discord are delaware corporations operating in California and are widely available for consumers in the United States.

Until at least in November 2024, Roblox configured the application to be default to settings that “allowed adults to easily communicate with children,” says the costume.

“Adult strangers could” friend “and talk to a child of any age,” even without being friends on the platform, says the costume.

The process also argues that, during and after pandemic, reports of sexual abuse on accelerated Roblox facilitated children.

Cases include a 47 -year -old who posed as a teenager and asked for explicit images from a 16 -year -old girl and a The 21 -year -old man from Chile, who spent Roblox for a minor girl for months.

In Passaic County, a 27 -year -old man was arrested in 2023 And accused of kidnapping an 11-year-old girl she met Roblox and led her to Delaware.

“While most of the predators on Roblox attract children in their appearance, claiming that there are children, many predators do not hide their intentions,” says the costume.

The process claims that the predators are walking with Roblox with usernames such as “@igruum_minors” and “@earlbrianbradley” – the latter referring to – are referring to A former pediatrician and pedophile who has molested hundreds of children.

The costume claims that Roblox houses and promotes graphic, explicitly sexual content. The application includes games that display simulated sexual contact and rape.

A single game, “Simulator of Vibe public bath“, It allows the access of users up to the age of 9 to simulate sexual activity in the bathrooms, says the costume.

It is assumed that the application includes virtual striptease clubs, in which the child’s avatars perform sexually explicit acts, such as the dances of the owners, supports the process.

The trial claims that Roblox has allowed hundreds of users to create account names that display variations of condemned sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, including a game called “Escape to Epstein Island. “

The process supports a fraudulent concealment, wrong presentation and more accusations of negligence.

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Anthony G. Attino can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow it on Twitter @Tonyattrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.