The tragic death of a young autistic boy has sparked a major legal battle against online platforms Roblox and Discord. His family claims that a 37-year-old man, posing as a teenager, used the sites to groom their son, a process that ultimately led to his suicide.
The mother of a 15-year-old boy who died by suicide is taking legal action against Roblox and Discord for wrongful death. She claims the platforms' insufficient safeguards enabled an adult predator to sexually coerce her son into sharing explicit images.
According to a lawsuit filed last week in the Superior Court of San Francisco County, Ethan Dallas — an autistic teenager known for being the class clown and a star baseball player on a team for children with disabilities — met someone new on Roblox.
A Friendship with a Hidden Threat
A player claiming to be a child named Nate started messaging him, and a friendship began. They played Roblox, a world-building video game, daily and stayed up talking long after dark. Over time, Nate showed Ethan how to bypass some of the parental settings his parents had established.
Their conversations then became sexual and shifted to the messaging app Discord. The lawsuit alleges that Nate began demanding explicit photos of Ethan and threatened to share their messages if he refused.
Things I want to point out abt this NYT article on the suicide of a 15yo involving the video game Roblox: Ethan Dallas was autistic. Having read thousands of tech co's BBB complaints w many on Roblox, autistic kids were seemingly most targeted to make unauthorized charges... pic.twitter.com/MqcJU75aju
— EVW (@11010erieri) September 13, 2025
According to the New York Times, Ethan began having intense fits of anger. The rage became so severe that in December 2022, his mother, Becca Dallas, and her husband placed him in a residential treatment centre for a year.
'I'm sorry. I feel so bad about myself. I feel like I'm worthless', Ethan wrote to Becca in a December 2023 text message, the report states. 'Promise you won't get mad if I tell you?' the 15-year-old asked.
A Mother's Heartbreak and a Tragic Discovery
Becca brought Ethan to a Denny's close to their San Diego home. There, he revealed to her the messages with Nate on Roblox, his favourite video game he'd been playing since he was about seven.
'I couldn't believe it', Becca told the New York Times. She said she had always thought of Roblox as a game for children. Once he was back in school, Ethan appeared to be his usual self, catching up on his studies and discussing his plans to get his driver's license, buy his dad's car, and paint it purple.
One night, a knock on her bedroom door woke Becca up. It was Ethan. 'He just came and laid his head on my lap, and kept saying, 'I love you', Becca told the New York Times. 'And I said, "I love you, too"'.
“I want his story shared,” she said. “To scare parents to know that I thought my kid was safe, and that it wasn’t going to happen to me.”
— Take Justice Back (@TakeJusticeBack) September 15, 2025
According to his parents, Ethan Dallas was just a child when he was groomed and abused by a predator he met on Roblox. pic.twitter.com/b6rwDWvzjO
The next morning, her husband found Ethan dead in his room. This was only four months after the boy had shared with his mother what had happened with Nate.
The Predator Unmasked
In April 2025, a year after the tragedy, Florida law enforcement told Becca that 'Nate' was likely Timothy O'Connor, a 37-year-old man.
He had been arrested for possessing child pornography and sending harmful material to minors on separate charges. Public records show that in December 2023, O'Connor was found mentally unfit to stand trial.
Roblox and Discord Respond to Safety Concerns
About a whopping 40 million of Roblox's users are under 13, which is more than a third of its total players. This makes the platform an obvious target for predators. While the platform is designed for children, it also serves adult users, who can use private chat and voice features to talk with younger players.
In July, Roblox introduced a face-scanning feature to help confirm users' ages. However, according to safety experts, this measure can be bypassed by simply using someone else's account.
'We are deeply saddened by this tragic loss', a Roblox spokesperson told The Post. 'While we cannot comment on claims raised in litigation, we always strive to hold ourselves to the highest safety standards.'
'At Roblox, safety is a top priority and we are continually innovating new safety features – over 100 this year alone – that protect our users and empower parents and caregivers with greater control and visibility.'
A spokesperson for Discord told The Post that the company uses a mix of sophisticated technology and trained safety personnel to find and remove content that violates its policies proactively.
The representative added that they 'maintain strong systems to prevent the spread of sexual exploitation and grooming on the platform.' Discord's representative added that all users must be at least 13 years old to use the platform.
State Attorneys General Take Action Against Roblox
In April, Florida's attorney general, James Uthmeier, started a child-safety investigation into the company. The previous month, Louisiana's attorney general, Liz Murrill, filed a lawsuit against Roblox, describing it as 'the perfect place for pedophiles.'
According to the New York Times, over 20 federal lawsuits accusing Roblox of enabling sexual exploitation have been filed this year alone.
About a dozen law firms are collaborating on child-safety lawsuits against Roblox, according to Alexandra Walsh, a partner at Anapol Weiss. They hope to establish a legal precedent that will hold Roblox and other social media companies accountable for enabling predators on their platforms.
A Mother's Fight for Justice
Becca, who is also taking legal action against Discord, is seeking an unspecified amount of money for emotional distress.
'I want his story shared', she said. Becca, who this month started a foundation in his name for children with mental health issues, added, 'To scare parents to know that I thought my kid was safe, and that it wasn't going to happen to me.'
Ethan began playing Roblox in 2015. His parents had activated parental controls that restricted his playtime and required them to approve friend requests. However, according to the report, these settings did not stop adults from messaging Ethan.
Becca said she believed Roblox was monitoring his conversations, as he had been temporarily banned on a few occasions for using phrases such as 'stupid ass'. She told the New York Times, 'I never heard about anything inappropriate going on, or I would've busted through the door.'
