A Delaware man has been arrested and charged with kidnapping an 11-year-old girl he met on various online gaming forums, including Roblox, a popular platform, according to authorities.
Darius Matylewich, 27, is facing charges of kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child after allegedly luring the girl from Wayne, New Jersey, away from her home, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes announced on Thursday.
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According to prosecutors, the girl was reported missing on the morning of September 10th and was found the same day in Bear, Delaware, approximately 140 miles away from her hometown.
Matylewich was apprehended by local police and subsequently extradited to New Jersey, where he is currently being held.
Investigators revealed that Matylewich and the girl connected through online video games and that he took her from her home without her parents’ knowledge or permission.
If convicted, Matylewich could face up to 30 years in state prison, authorities said.
Roblox did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment, but emphasized to Law & Crime that Matylewich and the girl did not meet on their platform.
“We have not been contacted by law enforcement, but we take the safety of our users, especially our youngest users, very seriously,” stated a Roblox spokesperson. “We have reached out to law enforcement and are offering our assistance. We work tirelessly to prevent grooming on our platform and have a team of thousands of moderators who enforce strict community standards on Roblox, including zero tolerance for any kind of sexual content.”
In an email to HuffPost, Jennifer Fetterman, chief assistant prosecutor with the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, confirmed that Matylewich and the girl had “communicated on several online gaming forums, including Roblox.”
Roblox is a large metaverse-based platform where users can create and play games. In 2020, the company reported that more than half of kids and teens under 16 in the U.S. had played the game. Since its launch in 2006, Roblox has gained millions of active users and partnered with notable organizations such as the NHL.
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