5-year-old comes home and tells mother about terrifying encounter, and what the stranger knew about him from Roblox has her filing lawsuit

A mother is suing Roblox after her young son was groomed and nearly kidnapped by an adult he met on the gaming platform. The lawsuit was filed this week in the Northern District of California and involves an incident that happened in 2024 when her son was only 5 years old.

According to NY Post, the lawsuit says a male predator pretended to be a child on Roblox and targeted the boy. The adult used grooming tactics to gain the child’s trust and convinced the 5-year-old to share personal details, including where he went to school.

The situation moved from online to the real world quickly. The mother got a warning call from another parent who reported a suspicious adult man following her son and other children near the school. When the boy came home, he told his mother what happened. The lawsuit says the man approached the 5-year-old and his brother and told them he was the boy’s friend on Roblox. That’s when the child realized something was wrong and told the man, “you are not a kid.”

The predator revealed his connection to the boy through Roblox

The lawsuit claims the man then tried to kidnap the brothers. The children refused to go with him and a struggle happened. The predator ran away when he saw police coming. The mother filed a police report and the man was later arrested.

Roblox has over 380 million active monthly users. The lawsuit claims the platform allows adults to pretend to be children, engage in sexually explicit behavior, and groom underage users on the app. Similar terrifying encounters with strangers have been reported in other situations involving unsuspecting victims.

The law firm Kherkher Garcia conducted an internal investigation and found concerning content on the platform. According to the lawsuit, Roblox hosts over 600 “Diddy” games with titles like “Run from Diddy Simulator” that appear to replicate sexually explicit incidents involving Sean Combs. 

The lawsuit also claims there are more than 900 Roblox accounts with variations of convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s name, along with games like “Escape to Epstein Island.”

The mother and son are seeking monetary damages for the emotional and physical harm caused by the grooming and attempted kidnapping. Sadi R. Antonmattei-Goitia, a partner at the law firm representing the family, said, “This case is a terrifying reminder of the world we live in, where capitalist greed far outweighs humanity.”

He added that allowing apps to operate without restrictions or proper age verification opens up worlds designed for children to “depraved individuals with unimaginable intentions.” This isn’t the only recent case of unwanted intruders causing serious problems for unsuspecting people.

“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,” a Roblox spokesperson told NY Post. 

Roblox said it launched 145 new safety initiatives this year. However, Kentucky sued Roblox in October for allegedly allowing child predators on the platform, and a North Carolina mother filed a similar lawsuit in August after claiming a predator sexually exploited her daughter through Roblox.