FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – A recent arrest in Flagler County underscores how online predators are evolving their methods to target children beyond traditional social media platforms.
A California man was transported to a Flagler County jail, after he was arrested in September for allegedly sending sexually explicit messages to a Palm Coast child he met through the popular gaming platform Roblox. This case has been cited in Florida’s lawsuit against Roblox, alleging insufficient child protection measures.
“The predators are not on the playground anymore. They are in our houses with our kids,” warns Detective Lauren Broomfield with the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit.
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According to Broomfield, predators often use gaming platforms as a starting point.
“The meat and the potatoes of the case didn’t happen on Roblox. It just generated there,” she explains. “Once they get them to a comfortable standpoint, they can move to, ‘hey, give me your phone number, give me your email address.’”
Predators Expand to New Platforms
Investigators have discovered predators are expanding their reach beyond gaming platforms to unexpected places like YouTube and Spotify. Detective Joe O’Barr, with the International Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) in Flagler County, revealed a disturbing trend where criminals target vulnerable teens through music playlists.
“They were luring mentally ill teenage girls to them through a depressed teens Spotify playlist. So they posted the playlist, they got people to like it, they would add some things to the playlist, they would start posting it more on Reddit and other places,” said O’Barr. “Whatever they can do to pull kids in, they do it.”
So who are these online predators behind the screens? Detectives tell News 6 it is a mix of sex offenders, criminals trying to make a profit off of explicit images and violent extremists.
Rising CyberTips
By law, technology companies are required to report suspected child exploitation on their platform to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The organization supports dozens of task forces nationwide, including units in the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, which investigate these tips.
According to O’Barr, the Flagler County ICAC unit received more than 580 CyberTips last year. Among those cases, 75 have been pursued at the state or federal level. He told News 6 depending on the time of year, his unit could receive up to 60 tips a week.
“As children become more active on the internet or we’re closer to summertime or winter breaks, you’ll get a lot more CyberTips,” said O’Barr. “Lately we’ve been getting a larger influx from Instagram and Meta programs, as well as Roblox.”
ICAC also works to stop criminals before they find children online, by doing undercover work.
“We try to utilize some of the things that we know and some of the places that we know that predators like to go, so we try to go there as well,” O’Barr told News 6.
Protective Measures for Parents
Law enforcement officials emphasize the importance of parental involvement in children’s online activities.
“If your kids are on any type of social media, look into the parental controls,” advised Detective Broomfield, “I have a Roblox account. My kids’ accounts are linked to it. I can see every keystroke essentially they do.”
The Federal Trade Commission has a guide on how to use parental controls for television, tablet and social media platforms.
In the Flagler County Roblox case mentioned earlier, the child told her parents about the messages she received and how they made her uncomfortable. They reported it to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, which is why detectives stress it is important to talk to your children about online risks.
Earlier this month, Roblox launched mandatory age verification requirements for users worldwide who want to message other players on its platform.