World of Warcraft account helps police locate missing 16-year-old

Police have been able to trace the location of a missing 16-year-old after she logged into her World of Warcraft account from a home in Florida.

As reported by the Huffington Post, the unnamed teen went missing from her home in Ohio before later being discovered in a home in Marion County, Florida. 31-year-old Thomas Ebersole was arrested at the scene and taken into custody on charges of traveling to meet a minor to engage in sexual activity, interfering with child custody and sheltering an unmarried minor.

According to the arrest report, Ebersole initially claimed he didn’t know the 16-year-old in question before eventually bringing her to the door to speak to police. Officers on the scene described the missing girl as “frustrated but cooperative.”

During the subsequent police interview, Ebersole is alleged to have confirmed that his relationship with the minor was “romantic” in nature. Additionally, detectives claim Ebersole admitted that he was aware of the girl’s age and intended to keep her in secret before later planning to “have her become his wife.”

Discord drawn into discussion on online safety for minors

Discord

Popular online messaging platform Discord has also been drawn into the discussion after it emerged that Ebersole allegedly initiated contact with the girl there. An investigation by NBC shed light on instances of predators using the platform to groom children online.

In total, it found that there have been 35 separate instances of people being charged with “kidnapping, grooming or sexual assault,” all of whom used the platform at some point during the actioning of their alleged crimes. Of those, 15 cases resulted in guilty pleas or verdicts, while many others remain as pending.

Within the guidelines for Discord, users under the age of 18 are advised not to engage in any form of sexual conduct or interaction. Additionally, it expressly prohibits adults from the solicitation of sexual materials or engaging in sexual conduct with anyone under the legal age limit.