Your child told you. Now what?
📞 After your kid tells you
Call order matters. Do these before you touch any device.
NCMEC — first call, auto-routes to FBI1-800-843-5678 FBI Milwaukee Field Office — Wisconsin cases414-276-4684 Wisconsin ICAC Task Force1-800-432-7328The first hour after your kid tells you
- Believe them. Disclosure took more courage than you can see. The worst thing you can do is respond with doubt.
- Do not rage visibly. Your kid needs to see you steady. Rage — at them, at the predator, at a platform — shuts disclosure down. Process anger later, alone or with another adult.
- Stop touching the device. Do not scroll through messages. Do not delete the account. Do not block yet. Lock the screen, set it down.
- Ask only: how long has this been happening, what platforms, does this person know anything identifying (address, school, real name), are there photos. Do not interrogate beyond this.
- Call NCMEC (1-800-843-5678). Tell them what you have. They will guide the next 24 hours, including whether the case needs FBI or state ICAC as primary investigator.
- Do not confront the groomer. Do not log in as your kid to reply. Do not impersonate your kid. You will poison the forensic chain of custody and possibly commit a crime.
- Screenshot before blocking, once law enforcement has told you what to preserve. Many WI jurisdictions will take the device for imaging — follow their exact instructions.
- Therapy referral this week. Grooming trauma has delayed symptoms. Get the kid connected to a trauma-informed clinician regardless of whether they "seem fine."
Do not
- Do not delete the account, messages, photos, or app. Every message is evidence — including the grooming phase that doesn't look sexual.
- Do not pretend to be your kid to "catch" the groomer. You'll contaminate the case.
- Do not tell other parents the predator's username yet. If the groomer learns they're identified, they flee and reappear under new accounts.
- Do not punish your kid for the photos, hidden conversations, or meeting the person. They are a victim of a crime adults commit by design.
- Do not assume "this person is probably a kid too." They are almost never a kid. Grooming is an adult behavior pattern.
What happens next
NCMEC will triage. Based on what your kid reports, the case may be assigned to FBI (federal, cross-state, significant scale), WI ICAC (state-level technical work), or local law enforcement (locally identifiable suspect). In practice, cases often involve all three. NCMEC coordinates.
If images were produced and shared, the case qualifies for federal prosecution. If the groomer operated on Roblox or Discord, the case may qualify for MDL 3166 or the Anapol Weiss / Social Media Victims Law Center civil lawsuits. You can pursue civil action independently of criminal prosecution.
The pattern — so you understand what happened
Documented across 80+ MDL 3166 cases: adult creates child-style avatar → approaches your kid in a popular young-user game (Adopt Me, Dress to Impress, Brookhaven) → friendly chat, daily play → small Robux gifts (the hook) → moves conversation to Discord or Snap "so we can talk better" → isolation ("don't tell your parents") → sexual topics introduced gradually → photo requests → threats if resistance. The "move to Discord" step is the critical escalation. Once off-platform, Roblox moderation is irrelevant.
Your kid is not weak or naive for being groomed. This pattern is engineered to work on kids who are kind, trusting, and lonely — qualities you raised them to have.
For you
You will feel guilt. It is not proportionate to the facts. Predators operate by design around parental controls and the specific psychology of kids your age. The most protective thing you've done is exist as the person your kid told. The next months are long — plan for your own mental-health support too.