Dad in Roblox warning after his young son is sent 'sickening' messages from strangers in online game
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A horrified dad whose young son was sent sick messages from perverts playing hit online game Roblox is warning other parents of the danger to their children.
Iain Morrison, a former Hull Kingston Rovers rugby league star, said his lad received 'sickening' questions and was urged to perform sex acts in 'virtual bedrooms' in the social gaming platform.
The 33-year-old was shocked to see the messages pop up within 15 minutes of starting up his son's iPad when he decided to investigate the 'seemingly innocent' game.
He said the multi-player game - dubbed the new Minecraft and aimed at youngsters aged between eight and 12 - is being used by perverts looking to meet young children. Roblox is described as an "immersive" game that allows players to take on a character and tour around a number of 3D sets.
(Photo: Hull Daily Mail)
The father, from East Yorkshire, has now deleted the app from both his sons' iPads and shared a post on Facebook urging others to do the same.
A local school has also warned parents about the game, reports the Hull Daily Mail .
Iain said: "I just had it in my head that I needed to ask the boys if they were playing on this Roblox game after reading about it online.
"They said they had it so I've said: 'Let me have a look at it.'
(Photo: Hull Daily Mail)
"From the outlook it looks completely fine, you can go into different rooms, and in the first room I wasn't sent anything untoward.
"Then I went in this water slide room with a pool and immediately was propositioned.
"They said: 'Hi' so I said 'hi' and they asked if I was a boy or girl and my age, so I said I was an eight-year-old boy.
"They asked me to follow them to their house, then into the bedroom and asked me to lay down on top of them and then they started with the sexual movements.
"They said 'you look cute' and 'you look sexy'.
"It was just sickening reading all the comments pop up. My kids were completely oblivious as to what the words and stuff meant."
(Photo: Hull Daily Mail)
He added: "I can imagine if I didn't watch and they kept going back to the same rooms and chatting to the same people it could be so easy for them to take it further.
"I 110 per cent think it would be so easy for these people to use the game to groom kids. It made my guts turn. They were talking in code but it was as clear as day to see."
His Facebook post has been met with mixed reactions, with many parents thanking him for the warning, but others accused him of scaremongering.
Iain, who runs fitness bootcamps, said: "This isn't something I've seen on Facebook and copied and pasted.
"This is something I've seen with my own eyes. It's literally turned my stomach.
"I spoke to more than one of the weirdos within 15 minutes, if there's one or 50 on there I couldn't care less, that's one too many.
"It was honestly disgusting, it's better to be safe than sorry. I've contacted everyone I can to tell them, people are sick of me talking about it.
"There is nothing to stop adults going on there and pretending they're kids. They said they were children, but they certainly weren't, some of the usernames are also very sexual.
"The problem is my children have easily downloaded it and so I just wonder how many more kids there are out there playing it with their parents unaware.
"If you don't believe me, sit on it for 15 minutes yourself and take a look. It's messed up. It's disgusting how this isn't being monitored and stopped. I could be going over the top, but it wasn't right."
Schools across Hull and the East Riding have also issued warnings to parents over the game.
Springhead Primary School in Willerby, Hull, shared a warning on Facebook reading: "If your child is playing this game unsupervised and chatting online, please be aware - they may think they are chatting to other children, however the content of the 'chat' suggests it is adults. It may be worth deleting it off their device."
On its website, Roblox says it has 44 million users and more than 22 million different games which people around the world can take part in.
Humberside Police said it was important for parents to be aware of what sites their children are using.
Detective Inspector Rich Osgerby said: "The best advice is for parents to have a conversation with their kids around security settings, friending and only joining chats or parties with people who they know from school, for example.
"Parents can't afford to be complacent but sometimes they just don't have the knowledge to advise them. There is some good internet safety advice for parents on get safe online."
Makers of Roblox have been contacted for comment.