ATLANTA — Roblox is facing lawsuits from metro Atlanta families over alleged child safety failures. Several families are suing Roblox, claiming the company failed to prevent online predators from targeting their children through the game.

A DeKalb County mother is among the first to take legal action, alleging that adult users posing as children groomed her 9-year-old son on the platform and coerced him into sending explicit images , a case her attorney calls “sextortion.”

“It’s based on the sexual exploitation and grooming of young children that occur on the Roblox gaming platform; a platform which has become a haven for pedophiles,” said attorney Matt Dolman, who represents the family. He says the child, now 10, still suffers from anxiety related to the abuse.

Dolman accuses Roblox of neglecting to verify users’ ages despite being repeatedly warned about safety concerns. “When you put a product out there, and you know it’s going to be for the consumption of youngsters, you have a duty to make sure that product is safe,” he said.

Dolman says he plans to file additional lawsuits on behalf of other metro Atlanta families, including one from Cobb County. He describes a disturbing pattern of how predators operate on the platform.

“And then eventually they start asking for images and it starts to get more salacious. The child doesn’t know any better, and all of a sudden this adult is holding that picture over their head, saying, I’m going to disseminate this to other kids in your school or to your parents, and let’s do this and that, and it just starts to get worse and worse,” he explained. “Most parents don’t want money, they want a pound of flesh.”

Roblox, which has millions of young users worldwide, recently implemented new age verification measures. In a statement, the company said it could not comment on pending litigation but added that it is “deeply committed” to user safety.

WSB’s Veronica Waters contributed to this story