A Kansas teen was found by police in Jonesboro, Georgia, at a Dollar General on Tara Boulevard around 10 p.m. last Thursday.
Howard Graham, 33, was arrested on sex trafficking charges at a Clayton County IHOP where he worked.
The 13-year-old and Graham met on Roblox, an extremely popular gaming app among kids.
Investigators stated that after two days of talking, Graham encouraged the young girl to run away from home. He’s also accused of driving to Topeka, Kansas, to pick her up and bring her back to Clayton County, police said.
Investigators said the two had sex multiple times. According to authorities, whether it is consensual or not, sex with a minor is considered rape.
The teen eventually told Graham she wanted to go back home, but he took her to the Dollar General instead, WSBTV reported.
The teen’s mother alerted the police that her daughter was on the gaming app.
Capt. John Ivy spoke out during a news conference about the dangers of the app and why parents need to monitor their children while on it.
“The subject got on there and praising these little kids, because think they’re playing on there with other kids,” Ivy said. “And they’re not. They’re playing with people who are preying on their kids. We’re extremely lucky we find this young girl and she’s alive.”
Graham faces multiple charges, including rape, kidnapping, and sex trafficking.
Holloway received a statement from Roblox:
“We were deeply saddened to hear about this case. There is nothing more important to parents — including the many parents who work at Roblox — than ensuring that children are safe when they learn and play, online or off. We work tirelessly to prevent grooming on our platform. We have stringent safety systems and a team of thousands of moderators who enforce a strict set of community standards on Roblox, including zero tolerance for sexual content of any kind. While we have not been contacted by authorities about this case, we always cooperate with law enforcement requests and promptly report any suspicious behavior to relevant organizations such as the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the United States.
“The safety of users on Roblox is at the core of everything we do, and we have a number of dedicated features designed to keep kids safe while playing Roblox. We filter all text chat on the platform to block inappropriate content or personal information and we offer parental controls and features such as ‘Account Restrictions,’ so parents and caregivers have the option to limit chat to a curated list of contacts or turn chat off altogether. Users can also mute or block players that they come across in games and report inappropriate content or behavior using our Report Abuse system.”
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