The family of a West Des Moines girl allegedly taken and abused by an alleged sexual predator she met online while using Roblox is suing the video gaming company, saying it has failed to protect children from sexual predators online.
The lawsuit, filed July 29, involves a 13-year-old girl who authorities say was kidnapped from a family member’s home in West Des Moines and driven to Jefferson County, Tennessee, east of Knoxville, where she was repeatedly sexually assaulted.
The suspect, Martin Amaya Sandoval, currently faces statutory rape charges in Tennessee. West Des Moines police said in May they expect to bring charges in Iowa as well, although none appear in online court records as of Aug. 4.
In their complaint, the girl’s family says the teen first encountered Sandoval on Roblox, an online service that allows users to create and share their own games and interact with other users. The company advertises its platform as safe for children, with options for chat filters and other parental controls. Despite this, in recent years there have been widespread reports of children exposed to sexual content or otherwise exploited by other Roblox users.
In the case of the West Des Moines teen, the complaint alleges she began playing Roblox when she was 8 and that her parents allowed it because they believed the app was safe for children. In early 2025, when she was 13, she allegedly began communicating online with Sandoval, who although in his mid-30s was using a child’s profile and claimed to be a minor. Over four months, beginning on Roblox and later on Snapchat, he allegedly claimed to love her, exchanged sexual messages and images with her and finally convinced her to meet him in person, leading to an alleged kidnaping and assault.
The complaint by her family, who are only identified in the suit with their initials, accuses Roblox of intentionally failing to implement age verification and other safety measures to boost user numbers, prioritizing investors over children’s safety.
“Had (Roblox) designed the app with even the most basic screening or age and identity verification, as well as effective parental controls, (the 13-year-old) never would have interacted with this predator and never would have suffered the harm that she did. In short, (the 13-year-old’s) life has been devastated as a direct result of Defendant’s conduct,” the complaint alleges.
Widespread reports of sexual content on Roblox
California-based Roblox, which reported more than $1 billion in revenue in its latest quarter, is one of the most valuable video game companies in the world. But the company has been under growing pressure in recent years to clean up its platform.
An October 2024 report by the investment firm Hindenburg Research described the service as an “X-rated pedophile hellscape” and said researchers found multiple groups on the service openly trading child pornography. News media investigations have found numerous other cases of children being groomed, solicited and abused by people they met on Roblox.
The company is facing numerous lawsuits from hundreds of users claiming to have been harmed due to lapses in child safety on its platform.
The West Des Moines kidnapping isn’t the first such case reported in Iowa. Online court records show at least three other instances since 2021 in which investigators have sought search warrants for Roblox data. Each involves allegations of children, some as young as 7, being solicited or groomed by strangers encountered on Roblox. It’s not clear how many of those investigations resulted in criminal charges.
Roblox has not yet responded to the new complaint in court. In an emailed statement, the company declined to comment on pending litigation but said “Roblox is deeply committed to the safety and well-being of our community with tens of millions having positive experiences every day. Protecting children is a top priority, and we invest significant resources in advanced safety technology. … We are always evolving our safety practices to promote a secure and positive experience for everyone.”
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Kidnapped Iowa 13-year-old’s family alleges she was groomed on Roblox