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  • 2018-09-28 (xsd:date)
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  • Are Sexual Predators Using 'Fortnite' to Groom Children? (en)
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  • In September 2018, a New Jersey-based law enforcement operation codenamed Operation Open House yielded 24 arrests of men alleged to have attempted to groom children for sex using mobile chat apps. The multi-agency sting operation, which involved state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies and hinged upon undercover officers posing online as underage girls and boys, prompted a widely-shared report by the NJ.com news website which carried the headline Predators are using Fortnite to lure kids. Cops say parents need to worry: Along with other alarming reports, such as those published by ThatsInappropriate.com and ScaryMommy.com, NJ.com's article prompted multiple concerned inquiries from readers about the use of gaming apps such as Fortnite by those seeking to groom children for sex. Fortnite was the only app named in the headlines of all three of those articles. In reality, despite its phenomenal popularity, Fortnite was not used by any of the 24 men arrested and charged with attempting to lure children for sex online in New Jersey in September 2018. However, it has been used by other would-be sexual predators in the past, the state Attorney General's office told us. In an 18 September press release announcing the arrests, the office of Attorney General Gurbir Grewal outlined the basics of Operation Open House and detailed the allegations against the 24 defendants: A spokesperson for Attorney General Grewal confirmed to us by email that the only apps used by the 24 defendants arrested in September 2018 were the chatting apps Kik, Scout, Whisper and, Grindr: None of the 24 defendants used the three gaming apps mentioned (Fortnite, Minecraft or Discord). Those were used by defendants in prior cases. The four listed apps were the only ones used. Gmail was used in one case, and other defendants also texted ... So Fortnite, which was the focus of several news articles about the Operation Open House arrests, only featured in passing in the Attorney General's press release, and only in reference to previous grooming investigations and not the one which led to 24 arrests in September 2018: That does not mean parents do not need to be vigilant about their children's use of gaming apps such as Fortnite and Minecraft. At a press conference announcing the arrests, Grewal highlighted a parental warning produced and shared by his office, which asked parents to become familiar with 19 popular apps, four of which were used by would-be predators in the context of Operation Open House, and the other 15 in previous cases:  Conclusion According to the New Jersey Attorney General's office, the gaming apps Fortnite, Minecraft, and Discord are among several apps popular among teenagers and children but also used by would-be sexual predators for the purpose of grooming. Four chatting apps were used by 24 men arrested in September 2018 as part of an undercover sting operation which yielded serious charges including attempted sexual assault. However, Fortnite, Minecraft, and Discord were not used by the 24 men arrested in that particular sweep, despite the fact that several news reports focused heavily on those apps and mentioned only Fortnite in their headlines. (en)
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