FRANKLIN COUNTY – A Northern Iowa sheriff warns citizens of “predators reaching out to young children.”
The Franklin county sheriff’s office out of Hampton recently sent a bulletin making the ominous warning to citizens that possible bad actors are lurking in the shadows, waiting to prey on our precious children.
“Recently the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office has had targeted incidences of predators reaching out to young children, through the online gaming app RoBlox,” Franklin county sheriff Aaron Dodd said. “We encourage parents to be monitoring children’s devices and apps. The interactions begin innocently, but are not ending up that way.”
Sheriff Dodd advised parents and caregivers to “Be certain to have conversations with your young children about this.”
The BBC reported that “Roblox is a huge sprawling world of games which is sometimes described as a kind of primitive metaverse. It’s one of the most popular children’s games in the world. The exact figures are a little hazy, but in 2020 Roblox told Bloomberg that two-thirds of all US children between the ages of nine and 12, use the game. Roblox allows users to create and play games together. It’s a way to connect, in real time, with other people in a digital world.”
These connections are not always innocent. Keep tabs on your child’s online activities, as Sheriff Dodd recommends.
