13-Year-Old Groomed, Kidnapped Through Roblox: Family Sues Gaming Giant
Lawsuit Alleges Gaming Platform Enabled Predator’s Grooming, Kidnapping, Sex Trafficking and Trafficking of 13-Year-Old Girl; GGH and Milberg Law Firms represent over 400 victims of sexual exploitation on Roblox and Discord.
DES MOINES, IOWA – A lawsuit filed today alleges that Roblox Corporation enabled the grooming, exploitation, kidnapping and trafficking of a 13-year-old girl by creating a “digital hunting ground” for predators while falsely marketing their platforms as safe for children.
The complaint, filed in Polk County Circuit Court by Gould Grieco & Hensley, PLLC and Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC, details how a predator used Roblox to gain access to, groom, and sexually abuse the young plaintiff in what attorneys describe as a preventable tragedy enabled by corporate negligence.
According to the lawsuit, Plaintiff is a 13-year-old child who was introduced to an adult predator on Roblox unbeknownst to her parents, groomed, and then kidnapped from her grandmother’s West Des Moines, Iowa home on May 24, 2025, trafficked across multiple states where she was repeatedly sexually abused and trafficked.
The complaint alleges this follows a well-documented pattern that the company was aware of but failed to prevent, despite having the technological means to do so.
“This case exposes how one of the world’s largest platforms deliberately chose profits over the safety of children,” said Martin D. Gould, Founding Partner of Gould Grieco & Hensley, PLLC.
“Despite knowing their apps were hunting grounds for predators, Roblox continued to market themselves as a safe space for kids to learn while refusing to implement basic safety features.
They had every tool necessary to prevent this abuse – age verification, effective parental controls, proper monitoring systems – but implementing these safeguards might have reduced their user engagement metrics, so they chose to leave children vulnerable instead.” said Gould.
“What happened to our client was every parent’s worst nightmare. Tragically, it was not an isolated incident on Roblox, but the predictable result of deliberate corporate choices that prioritized growth over child safety,” said Steven L. Vanderporten, Partner at Gould Grieco & Hensley, PLLC. The lawsuit presents extensive evidence that Roblox was aware that predators were widespread across its gaming platform – which it has repeatedly professed was “designed for 8-18 year olds.” Roblox’s own internal data shows reports of suspected child sexual exploitation jumped from 675 in 2019 to 13,316 in 2023. Multiple criminal cases have documented predators using Roblox to exploit children, while leaked internal documents revealed Roblox employees felt pressure to avoid safety measures that might reduce user engagement. Child safety organizations have repeatedly named both platforms to their “Dirty Dozen” lists of companies facilitating sexual exploitation.
Despite this knowledge, Roblox launched extensive marketing campaigns claiming their platform was safe. Roblox claimed “safety is in our DNA” and promised “cutting-edge technologies” to protect users, and assured parents of “zero-tolerance” for endangering children all while claiming safety was “at the core of everything we do.” The complaint alleges this follows a well-documented pattern the company was aware of but failed to prevent, despite having the technological means to do so.
The complaint details how Roblox chose growth over child safety by refusing to implement basic protections. Failing to require age verification or effective parental controls, default settings allowing adults to easily contact children, and Roblox admitted to investors that it was ‘unable to prevent’ inappropriate interactions while publicly claiming otherwise.
Co-lead counsel, Gary Klinger, Partner at Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC, emphasized the systemic nature of the companies’ failures: “These companies had the knowledge, technology, and resources to prevent this abuse, but chose not to act because it might hurt their user growth metrics. This isn’t about one bad actor slipping through the cracks – it’s about corporate policies that deliberately created the perfect conditions for predators to thrive.
Roblox knew exactly how their platforms were being used to exploit children, they had the data showing thousands of incidents, yet they continued to market to parents with false promises of safety while maintaining the very features that enabled this abuse. Our client’s life has been forever changed because these companies valued their stock prices more than her wellbeing.”
The plaintiff seeks compensatory and punitive damages through eight counts including fraudulent misrepresentation, negligence, and strict liability claims. The lawsuit comes amid growing scrutiny of social media platforms’ child safety practices and recent investigations revealing widespread exploitation on Roblox, including the discovery of hundreds of Roblox games themed around convicted criminals.
The Plaintiff is represented by Martin D. Gould, Michael R. Grieco, and Steven L. Vanderporten of Gould Grieco & Hensley, PLLC, Gary Klinger, Melissa Nafash, and Melida Maxson of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC, and J. Barton Goplerud of Shindler, Anderson, Goplerud & Weese, PC.