SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A new lawsuit filed in San Mateo County, California, court claims Roblox, one of the most popular online gaming platforms for children in the world, “provides a hunting ground for child sex predators.”

The lawsuit was filed by law firm Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy earlier this month on behalf of a 13-year-old boy who was an “avid user of Roblox and Discord.” Adults can use Roblox and Discord to contact minors through direct messages while pretending to be children, the suit claims.

On the San Mateo-headquartered company’s website, Roblox promotes itself and its millions of users as “the ultimate virtual universe that lets you create, share experiences with friends, and be anything you can imagine.”

The lawsuit states, “Roblox’s success and continued growth has hinged on its constant assurances to parents that its app is safe for children. In Reality, Roblox Is a digital and real-life nightmare for children.”

The 13-year-old boy’s father allowed his son to use the popular apps because both companies claimed to be safe for kids, according to the lawsuit.

Attorneys said the boy’s parents “learned the truth only after it was too late. In 2024, they discovered that Roblox and Discord had enabled a child predator to identify, groom, and coerce (the boy) into sending sexually explicit images and videos of himself.”

Investigators later identified the adult as 27-year-old Sebastian Romero, attorneys said. A search warrant served at Romero’s home uncovered evidence that he allegedly exploited more than 25 minors.

“What happened in this case, which is often what happens, is that you have an adult masquerading as a child and then interacting with children. The predator was 27 years old, but he was telling our client he was a 16-year-old boy,” attorney Anne Marie Murphy told the San Mateo Daily Journal. Murphy said Romero also attempted to meet the boy in person.

“His innocence has been snatched from him forever. Tragically, what happened to him is far from an isolated event,” the lawsuit states.

Discord, headquartered in San Francisco, was also slapped by the lawsuit. Discord is an app for gamers looking to communicate while playing video games. Discord permits chatting with anyone over voice, video, and text messaging, attorneys claim.

“Roblox, in effect, serves as an initial access point to children for predators. Once on another app, like Discord, predators escalate their exploitation by soliciting explicit material. Roblox’s app and profit-driven virtual currency system enable predators to exploit children, often by trading or extorting Robux in exchange for explicit photos,” the lawsuit states.

Roblox made updates to improve its parental control features late last year. The company wrote, “We are always working to make chat incredibly safe.”

The company’s website states, “Safety is and always has been foundational to everything we do at Roblox. We’ve spent nearly two decades building strong safety systems, but we are always evolving our systems. We are making these changes for our youngest users by: (1) making it easier and more intuitive for parents to manage their child’s settings, and (2) updating our built-in limits to provide certain protections, independent of parental controls.”

Roblox said its approach to online safety is systematic, thoughtful, and guided by feedback from parents, youth, and experts.

The lawsuit accuses the two gaming companies of negligence that resulted in the 13-year-old boy’s emotional distress, psychological trauma, anxiety, and depression. The boy also endured humiliation, shame, and a profound loss of trust and innocence, the suit states.

Attorneys with Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy are demanding a jury trial in San Mateo County Superior Court.