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In an interview with FOX 17, Levine & Levine Managing Partner Randall Levine shared about child exploitation statutes relating to a case involving a New York man who used Roblox to groom a West Michigan child for illicit photos.
Ryan Dookhan, a licensed security guard from New York, is facing federal felony charges after allegedly posing as a teenager on Roblox, and befriending, then manipulating and abusing an 11-year-old girl from Petoskey through the game’s chat feature. The incident highlights the potential dangers of online interactions and the need for parents to monitor their children’s digital activities closely.
Their conversation quickly moved to the Justalk app, where Dookhan demanded illicit photos, threatening to find her home and take her away from her parents if she didn’t comply.
Investigation Timeline:
“We have child exploitation statutes that prohibit this kind of activity in Michigan,” said Levine, who specializes in child exploitation cases. “But once you use a computer and you are communicating interstate, that’s where you have a federal potential for federal prosecution.” Levine is not connected to this specific case.
Chris McKenna, founder of Protect Young Eyes, emphasized the importance of parental vigilance: “Parents, these are not the video games that you grew up with. … If you’re a parent who has made that choice, then you have to decide to monitor. You must monitor everything that they’re in because nothing that they want to do was designed with your child in mind.”
According to backlinko, Roblox had roughly 79.5 million daily active users as of mid-2024, with about 58% being under the age of 16.
Read the full story, here.
