Amber was horrified to see what was happening on the screen. Photo / Facebook
Amber was horrified to see what was happening on the screen. Photo / Facebook
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES
A concerned mother's viral Facebook post has once again called into question the safety of the popular game, Roblox.
In the graphic post, North Carolina mom Amber Petersen details the horrifying moment her 7-year-old daughter's avatar was 'violently gang-raped' in the game by three other players.
Disturbing screenshots shared alongside her story show two male characters attacking the avatar before a third, female character jumps on top of her.
The pictures even show an unambiguous animation of male genitalia, the MailOnline said.
Petersen is now calling on parents to delete the app from their kids' devices, and ensure all precautions have been taken to secure other programs.
The Minecraft-style game touts roughly 64 million monthly players and is geared toward children, with the ability to put in place certain restrictions for kids under the age of 13.
But, recent incidents have increasingly caused parents to sound the alarm.
After the latest, Petersen says she's been left feeling "traumatised and violated on so many levels," and is now concerned about how the disturbing event may have affected her daughter.
"At first, I couldn't believe what I was seeing," Petersen wrote on Facebook.
"My sweet and innocent daughter's avatar was being violently gang-raped on a playground by two males. A female observer approached them and proceeded to jump on her body at the end of the act.
"Then the 3 characters ran away, leaving my daughter's avatar laying on her face in the middle of the playground."
She said two male characters were on the screen and then a third female character came on and jumped on her daughter's body. Photo / Facebook
The shocking incident managed to slip through despite the presence of the game's moderators, which operate 24/7 to remove offensive content, and the 'maximum privacy' settings Petersen and her husband had put in place.
In response, Roblox says it is cracking down even harder on potential 'bad actors.'
"We were outraged to learn that Roblox's community policies and Rules of Conduct were subverted," a Roblox spokesperson said in a statement to Dailymail.com.
"We have identified how this bad actor created the offending action and are putting additional safeguards in place to reduce the possibility of this happening again in the future.
"In addition, the offender was identified and has been permanently banned from the platform and we have suspended the game,' the firm's official statement continues.
"We have zero tolerance for this behavior. Our work to ensure a safe platform is always evolving and remains a top priority for us."
But, this is not the first time the game has come under fire for exposing children to graphic sexual content.
At the beginning of June, a mother in Australia revealed her horror after witnessing the moment her 6-year-old daughter was invited into a 'sex room' in the online game.
The woman, identified only as Peggy, told Kidspot how she took the game away from her daughter and then recorded the disturbing scene, which showed numerous pairs of 3D avatars engaging in sex acts.
Petersen was also able to immediately remove her daughter from the situation and document it to spread awareness – but as she points out, others might not be so lucky.
"Words cannot describe the shock, disgust, and guilt that I am feeling right now, but I'm trying to put those feelings aside so I can get this warning out to others as soon as possible," Petersen wrote.
"Thankfully, I was able to take screenshots of what I was witnessing so people will realize just how horrific this experience was.
"Although I was immediately able to shield my daughter from seeing the entire interaction, I am shuddering to think of what kind of damage this image could have on her psyche, as well as any other child that could potentially be exposed to this."
Protecting children online continues to be a complex issue for parents to navigate, as more and more toys become connected devices.
For the time being, this mother says the best bet may just be to put down the screen this summer.
"Books cannot be hacked," Petersen wrote, "but sadly, I've learned the hard way that a child's innocence can be just at the touch of a button."
