Parents sue Snap over Snapchat's role in 12-year-old's rape by adult predator

The parents of a 12-year-old girl who was raped by an adult she met on Snapchat have filed a lawsuit against Snap, the app's parent company, in Missouri. The suit alleges Snapchat failed to disable risky features, warn parents, or prevent the predator from accessing the girl, including sharing her location via Snap Maps. The attacker, Gabriel Joel Valentin-Rios, was sentenced to 18 years in prison. The lawsuit claims Snapchat knew about the predator's multiple accounts and allowed unsafe interactions, contributing to the assault. Plaintiffs seek damages and court orders to make Snapchat safer for children. This case follows similar lawsuits accusing Snapchat of enabling sexual abuse through its platform design.