A 10-year-old child reported missing from Taft, California, was found Sunday after, authorities alleged, the child was kidnapped by a 27-year-old man who had been communicating through the popular gaming site Roblox and the messaging platform Discord, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.
Matthew Macatuno Naval was charged with kidnapping and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, authorities said.
The child was last seen by family at home Saturday night, and police were dispatched the following morning after the youth was reported missing.
Detectives discovered the communications between the child and a man they identified as Naval and believed he was in the Elk Grove area, just south of Sacramento and more than 250 miles from the child’s home in Taft, police said.
Elk Grove police were notified, and they found Naval at a strip mall near his home with the child, the release said.
“The suspect was found by collaboration with Elk Grove PD and with the help of the Sacramento news media’s response to missing flyers sent by KCSO, and our local media partners here in Kern County,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Lori Meza told NBC affiliate KGET of Bakersfield. “We are confident that spreading the word so quickly contributed to the successful location of the victim and the suspect.”
The 10-year-old was temporarily taken into protective custody before being released to family, authorities said.
Naval was booked into jail and transferred Wednesday to Kern County, with a complaint expected to be filed Friday, The Sacramento Bee reported.
It is not immediately clear whether Naval has an attorney.
Other states have taken legal action against such online sites, calling for increased child protections.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued a subpoena Wednesday to Roblox, demanding it share information about its marketing, age verification and collection of children’s data.
“We intend to cooperate with the Attorney General’s office and look forward to sharing all the work Roblox does to help keep users safe,” a Roblox spokesperson said.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced a lawsuit Thursday against Discord, alleging “deceptive and unconscionable business practices that misled parents about the efficacy of its safety controls and obscured the risks children faced when using the application.”
Discord said in a statement: “Discord is proud of our continuous efforts and investments in features and tools that help make Discord safer. Given our engagement with the Attorney General’s office, we are surprised by the announcement that New Jersey has filed an action against Discord today. We dispute the claims in the lawsuit and look forward to defending the action in court.”
In California, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office reminded the community of the importance of internet safety in light of the recent incident.
“Parents, monitor all electronic usage and know who your children are communicating with,” the release said. “Many apps and games have messaging capabilities and present the same, if not more, risk as social media platforms.”
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