x
Breaking News
More () »

Court documents: Rogers used Roblox to communicate with Monroe County teen

The documents also show that man talked to the girl online through several platforms including one called "Roblox."

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A judge set a $2 million bond for a man accused of raping his 14-year-old adoptive daughter. 

41-year-old Randall Pruitt was in Monroe County Court on Tuesday.

His daughter was missing for more than two weeks. Authorities found her in Wisconsin. 

That's where another man is also facing charges in the case.

31-year-old Bryan Rogers is charged with sexual exploitation of a child.

Court documents show he asked that teenager to record her adoptive father raping her and send to it to him. The documents also show that man talked to the girl online through several platforms including one called "Roblox."

10News wanted to learn more about Roblox, so we took our questions to tech expert Luke Wood. 

"Roblox itself is not a game, Roblox is a platform," Wood said. "It's targeted towards children to early teens. It enables them to create their own games." 

Wood says it encourages STEM development. 

According to its website, Roblox users have created thousands of games for its millions of world wide users to play. It can be accessed on your phone, tablet or computer. 

10News reached out to Roblox. In a statement it said in part, "We monitor and filter communication between our users as necessary and take swift action to suspend or delete accounts exhibiting bad behavior. We also proactively report bad actors and engage with law enforcement to help protect the safety of our users." 

Wood said he thinks Roblox is pretty good about safety and parental controls.

"It guards against language, it tries to watch out for bullying," Wood said. 

And like any technology, he said there can be potential dangers. 

"It does have a chat function," Wood said. "The chat is moderated. But that does not stop people from encouraging you to use a third-party chat app outside of the Roblox platform." 

Last year in North Carolina, a mother said she discovered her seven-year-old daughter's characters on Roblox being sexually assaulted by other characters.

Wood says it's all part of a constant lesson for kids and online safety. 

"What, who are they talking to? What information are they giving? Have you sat down with your kids and had conversations about this is what is private information, no one that you're talking to on this platform should be asking you for this," Wood said. 

Make it easy to keep up-to-date: Download the WBIR 10News app now and sign up for our Take 10 Lunchtime Newsletter.

Have a news tip? Email 10Listens@wbir.com, or visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.

  

Before You Leave, Check This Out