A predator, posing as a child, befriended the girl and manipulated her into revealing her location, the lawsuit says.
Online platform Roblox and communications app Discord have been sued by the father of a 10-year-old girl for “recklessly and deceptively operating businesses” in a manner that allegedly led to the child’s kidnapping, according to an Aug. 5 lawsuit filed at the Superior Court of San Mateo, California.
The girl, referred to as Jane Doe, was an “avid user” of Roblox and Discord for several years. Her reliance on these apps for entertainment and social interaction made her a “prime target for the countless child predators that Defendants knew were freely roaming the app looking for vulnerable children,” the complaint said. The girl is a resident of Kern County, California.
Around February 2025, a 27-year-old man targeted the girl on Roblox, posing as a child and offering friendship, the lawsuit said. Two days later, the predator allegedly shifted the communication to Discord, using the platform to build trust.
In April 2025, the man manipulated the girl to reveal her home address under the pretense of checking the distance between them, according to the complaint.
“Once the predator knew where Plaintiff lived, he drove to Plaintiff’s home and kidnapped her. He held Plaintiff against her will for an extended period, including an overnight stay in a hotel parking lot after being denied hotel accommodation,” the lawsuit said.
After intervention from law enforcement, the girl was discovered in the predator’s vehicle more than 250 miles from her home in a distressed state. She was found after being missing for more than 12 hours. The suspect has been arrested and is facing several charges, according to the lawsuit.
The complaint alleged that the girl suffered exploitation and abuse due to the lax conduct of Roblox and Discord.
According to Roblox’s 2024 annual report, the company had 82.9 million average daily active users (DAU) in 2024.
“We estimate that approximately 40 percent of our DAUs were under the age of 13 during the year ended December 31, 2024,” it said.
According to Roblox’s policy, users under the age of 13 require parental permission to access certain chat features.
Discord’s policy states that users must be at least 13 to access the app or its website. When signing up, users are asked to confirm their date of birth to create an account.
“If a user is reported as being under 13, we delete their account unless they can verify that they are at least 13 years old using an official ID document,” it said.
The lawsuit argued that even though Roblox officially requires parental consent for accepting children under the age of 13, there is nothing to prevent minors from creating their own accounts.
