A 10 -year -old boy reported by TAFT, California, was found on Sunday after, the authorities alleged that the child was kidnapped by a 27 -year -old man who had communicated through the popular Roblox Games site and the Discord messaging platform, said the Kern County Sheriff’s office on Wednesday.
Matthew Macatuno Naval was accused of kidnapping and illegal sexual behavior with a minor, authorities said.
The child was last seen by the family at home on Saturday night, and the police was sent the next morning after the young people were reported as missing.
The detectives discovered the communications between the child and a man who identified as Naval and believed that he was in the Elk Grove area, just south of Sacramento and more than 250 miles from the child’s house in TAFT, police said.
Elk Grove police were notified, and found Naval in a shopping center near their home with El Niño, according to the statement.
“The suspect was found by collaboration with Elk Grove PD and with the help of the Sacramento’s media response to the missing brochures sent by Kcso, and our local media partners here in Kern County,” said Sheriff’s spokeswoman Lori Meza, to the NBC KGET affiliate from Bakersfield. “We are sure that spreading the word so quickly contributed to the successful location of the victim and the suspect.”
The 10 -year -old was temporarily taken to protective custody before being released to the family, authorities said.
Naval was hired in jail and transferred on Wednesday to Kern County, and a complaint is expected to be presented on Friday, Bee Sacrament said.
It is not immediately clear if Naval has a lawyer.
Other states have taken legal measures against such online sites, asking for greater child protection.
Florida’s attorney general James Uthmeier issued a citation on Wednesday to Roblox, demanding information about his marketing, age verification and compilation of children’s data.
“We intend to cooperate with the Office of the Attorney General and we hope to share all the work that Roblox does to help keep users safe,” said a Roblox spokesman.
New Jersey Attorney, Matthew Pathin, announced a lawsuit on Thursday against Discord, claiming “deceptive and excessive commercial practices that deceived parents about the effectiveness of their security controls and obscured the risks that the children faced when using the application.”
Discord said in a statement: “Discord is proud of our continuous efforts and investments in characteristics and tools that help make Discord safer. Given our commitment to the Office of the Attorney General, we are surprised by the announcement that New Jersey has presented an action against Discord today. We discuss the claims in the lawsuit and hope to defend the action in court.”
In California, the Kern County Sheriff’s office reminded the community with the importance of internet security in the light of the recent incident.
“The parents, monitor all electronic use and know who their children communicate with,” said the statement. “Many applications and games have messaging capabilities and present the same risk, if not more, as social media platforms.”
