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Recent news broke out that a 10-year-old Californian girl had been found more than 250 miles from home after allegedly being lured by a 27-year-old man she met through the popular online gaming platform Roblox. Court documents revealed that the man, Matthew Naval, picked her up in the early morning and drove her hours away, where they were eventually found together in a parking lot. Naval is now being held on kidnapping and multiple child sex-related charges.

The girl told investigators she initially believed they were just going to a park near her home. But as the drive continued, she realized she was far from home and was unsure how to ask to be taken back. Naval claimed the girl had told him she was 18. But he also admitted to kissing her and said he “really would have considered” engaging in sexual activity if she had been willing. The details of the case, disturbing as they are, point to an ongoing crisis: platforms like Roblox are becoming breeding grounds for online predators and the tech companies behind them are not doing enough to stop it.

Roblox is one of the most popular online platforms today. The website is primarily marketed towards children, with playful cartoonish visuals, easy access on mobile devices, and children's brand tie-ins such as LEGO, Nickelodeon, and Marvel.  With tens of millions of users, many under the age of 13, it presents itself as a creative and social space where kids can build games and play with friends. What parents may not realize, however, is just how easily strangers and predators can contact their children within the platform. Roblox includes private messaging and chat features, giving predators direct communication with minors in what many parents assume is a safe environment.

These are not isolated incidents. Sexual predators are exploiting the platform’s weak safety mechanisms to initiate conversations with children, build trust, and then manipulate them into sharing personal information or meeting in person. Seemingly harmless online conversations can quickly result in real world consequences. That is not just a privacy failure, that is a failure of protection.

At Singleton Schreiber, our Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking Practice has seen firsthand how predators groom children by building relationships over time, manipulating them emotionally, and creating false bonds that can lead to devastating abuse. Grooming does not always start with overt threats. It starts with kindness, attention, and calculated trust, until the child becomes vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. When that dynamic results in inappropriate conversations, in-person meetings, and/or sexual abuse, the damage is profound and lifelong.

This is not just about the direct abusers. It is about the platforms that make their behavior possible. Roblox Corporation has a duty to protect the children who use its services. The company touts safety features, but those protections are failing. Chat filters, moderation bots, and age restrictions are not preventing predators from initiating contact and escalating it into abuse. As a result, children are being exploited, traumatized, and endangered on a platform that parents reasonably believe is harmless.

Too often, the law lags behind technology. Criminal charges may be filed against the perpetrator after the harm is done, but that does little to address the systemic failure that allowed it to happen in the first place. That is why the civil justice system is such a vital tool in this fight. Civil lawsuits allow families to seek accountability from the platforms and institutions that enabled abuse, forcing them to confront their role, take responsibility, and implement real change.

The reality is that online grooming is not just an unfortunate byproduct of digital culture. It is a form of trafficking. When an adult uses digital platforms to manipulate and exploit a child with the intent to engage in sexual acts, that is trafficking behavior. When it then turns into some type of commercial sexual abuse or abuse for benefit, it is trafficking. The internet is simply the new venue for a very old crime. And when the tech companies behind these platforms ignore the warning signs or fail to implement meaningful protections, they are complicit.

We believe it’s time for the law to reflect the seriousness of these harms. Civil litigation can push companies like Roblox to overhaul their systems, increase transparency, and invest in real safeguards. More importantly, it gives survivors and their families a chance to be heard, to reclaim power, and to demand accountability.

Parents must be made aware that this risk exists, and that it is not abstract. It is happening right now, behind the screens in their homes. Children as young as ten are being approached, groomed, and, in some cases, emotionally and physically harmed.

At Singleton Schreiber, our Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking Practice has experience in litigating against powerful corporations, institutions, and third parties who failed to protect the vulnerable. Our team prides itself in being trauma informed and fearlessly fighting some of the most powerful wrongdoers to get justice for survivors. If your child or someone you know has suffered abuse related to Roblox, or any other online platform, we encourage you to contact our team for a free, confidential consultation.

Our firm remains committed to fighting for survivors and ensuring that platforms that fail to protect them face real consequences and fully compensate survivors for the full extent of the harm they cause.