TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – A Lucas County father has filed a lawsuit against Roblox and Discord, claiming the popular apps are negligent in providing safeguards for children after a teen was allegedly targeted and threatened by a predator.
According to a press release from Dolman Law Group, the group filed the complaint in the Northern District of California, where the apps are headquartered, on Thursday.
The press release said that a 13-year-old girl in Lucas County was an avid user of Roblox and Discord. Allegedly, the 13-year-old unknowingly encountered a predator who was pretending to be a peer. The release said the predator built trust and groomed her, then encouraged her to continue speaking on Discord.
The predator allegedly escalated his behavior on Discord by sending the teen graphic messages and coercing the teen into sending sexually explicit images of herself. When the teen told them she did not want to send images, the man threatened to harm her family.
The teen then called the police and reported it. According to the complaint, since then, the teen has experienced depressive behavior and self-harm.
“This case against Roblox is a terrifying reminder of the world we live in where capitalist greed far outweighs humanity,” said Matthew Dolman, Principal of Dolman Law Group. “There have never been sufficient safety measures and protocols in place, putting our youngest and most vulnerable communities into unimaginable harm’s way every second of the day. Without forcing systemic change, Roblox will continue to operate anarchically.”
According to the lawsuit, the companies are being sued for fraudulent concealment and misrepresentations, negligent misrepresentation, general negligence, negligence – failure to warn, negligence – unreasonable design, negligent undertaking, strict liability – design defect, strict liability -failure to warn.
The full lawsuit can be read below:
Latest Local News | First Alert Weather | Crime | National | 13abc Originals
Copyright 2025 WTVG. All rights reserved.
