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Florida authorities recently arrested a man accused of soliciting a child through the popular gaming platform Roblox.
The arrest was announced by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) on Nov. 7.
The suspect, Brandon Rodriguez-Silva, 20, of San Jose, California, has been charged with transmitting material harmful to minors by electronic device and soliciting a child for unlawful sexual conduct using a computer service or device.
According to authorities, Rodriguez-Silva allegedly engaged the Florida child on Roblox and encouraged them to move to the messaging app Discord before eventually swapping cellphone numbers.
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“[T]he suspect… told the victim that he was 18 years old and lived in California, began requesting nude photographs,” the press release read.
“The messages between the suspect and the child contained numerous sexually explicit texts and photographs, but no nudity.”
The victim’s parent ultimately caught wind of the conversations and reported them to authorities.
“Fortunately, this parent acted as the sheriff in their home by reviewing their child’s messages and contacting law enforcement immediately after discovering a stranger was attempting to take advantage of their child,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in a statement.
The FCSO said that the arrest was more than two years in the making.
“The investigation began in June 2023 when deputies responded to a Palm Coast residence regarding a suspicious incident reported by a concerned parent,” the press release read.
“Upon arrival, deputies spoke to the parent, who stated he had discovered an inappropriate and sexually explicit conversation on his child’s iPad between his child and an unknown male.”
Roblox, which allows users to create, share and play games, is especially popular among children and teenagers.
Staly emphasized that the case demonstrates “why it is incredibly important for parents to be aware of the dangers of the internet and monitor their children’s online activity.”
“These online platforms provide predators an avenue to engage with unsuspecting children and groom them so exploitation can occur,” the sheriff said.
Rodriguez-Silva is being held in the Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas, California. He is slated to be extradited to Flagler County.
In a statement to FOX Business, a spokesperson for Roblox said they were “deeply troubled” by the incident.
“Our policies are purposefully stricter than those found on many other platforms,” the official said. “We prohibit the sharing of images and videos in chat, use filters designed to block the exchange of personal information, and our trained teams and automated tools continuously monitor communications to detect and remove harmful content.”
“We have introduced over 145 safety measures on the platform this year alone, and as a first for the industry, we recently announced that we will soon implement age estimation for all users accessing chat features, which will further strengthen safety protections on Roblox,” the spokesperson added.
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