SNAPCHAT SEXUAL ABUSE LAWSUITS

Nationwide Representation for Victims of Sexual Abuse involving Snapchat

Levy Konigsberg is investigating claims that children were allegedly sexually exploited on Snapchat, a social media platform widely used by minors.

Snapchat is a social media application operated by Snap Inc. that allows users to send disappearing photos and messages, share stories, and communicate privately with other users. The platform is widely used by teenagers and young users across the United States. Reports and lawsuits have alleged that certain features of Snapchat, including disappearing messages and user discovery tools, have been used by predators to contact, groom, and exploit minors. Lawsuits and criminal cases have also alleged that the platform’s design and limited parental oversight tools may have allowed illegal sexual activity, child sexual abuse material, and sextortion schemes involving children.

If you or a loved one was harmed, contact us today.

History of Sexual Abuse involving Snapchat

Examples of sexual abuse and exploitation that have reportedly occurred on or through Snapchat include:

Missouri

• In June 2026, the family of a Missouri teenager sued Snap in Missouri state court, alleging that Snapchat’s features facilitated the rape of a 12-year-old girl in September 2021. 

The complaint alleged that Snapchat’s Quick Add feature recommended a 25-year-old perpetrator to the victim. He allegedly used the platform to groom her, coerce her into sending explicit photos, and obtain her home address through the Snap Map location-sharing feature. He allegedly raped her after convincing her to sneak out of her home. 

The lawsuit alleged that Snap failed to warn minors about the risks of connecting with strangers, and failed to review more than 40% of serious user reports at the time of the assault. 

Texas

• In February 2026, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Snap Inc., the company that operates Snapchat, alleging the platform exposed minors to explicit content and deceptive safety claims. 

According to the lawsuit, Snapchat was marketed as safe for young users even though the platform allegedly hosted mature content, including alcohol, drugs, nudity, and profanity,

The lawsuit also alleged that Snapchat used features designed to encourage compulsive use among young users. One feature cited was “Snapstreaks,” which tracks consecutive days users exchange messages and warns them when they are about to lose a streak, allegedly creating pressure for continued use.

The complaint further alleged that Snapchat failed to provide adequate parental controls to monitor minors’ activity on the platform. Parents allegedly lacked sufficient tools to oversee their children’s use of Snapchat, and minors were reportedly allowed to decide whether their parents could access available monitoring features.

The lawsuit also alleged that Snap Inc. shared and sold minors’ personal information without parental consent, in violation of Texas’ Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act.

Texas

• In February 2026, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Snap Inc., the company that operates Snapchat, alleging the platform exposed minors to explicit content and deceptive safety claims. 

According to the lawsuit, Snapchat was marketed as safe for young users even though the platform allegedly hosted mature content, including alcohol, drugs, nudity, and profanity,

The lawsuit also alleged that Snapchat used features designed to encourage compulsive use among young users. One feature cited was “Snapstreaks,” which tracks consecutive days users exchange messages and warns them when they are about to lose a streak, allegedly creating pressure for continued use.

The complaint further alleged that Snapchat failed to provide adequate parental controls to monitor minors’ activity on the platform. Parents allegedly lacked sufficient tools to oversee their children’s use of Snapchat, and minors were reportedly allowed to decide whether their parents could access available monitoring features.

The lawsuit also alleged that Snap Inc. shared and sold minors’ personal information without parental consent, in violation of Texas’ Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act.

Massachusetts

• In November 2025, a former music teacher, Joshua DeWitte, was charged with allegedly sexually exploiting and sex trafficking minor children using Snapchat.  According to the charging documents, at the time of the alleged conduct, DeWitte was a music teacher at a local school in Massachusetts.  In December 2024, DeWitte was allegedly identified as the owner of a Snapchat account that uploaded child sexual abuse material (CSAM) depicting the abuse of a boy who appears to be between approximately eight and 10 years old. Snapchat records allegedly showed that, in September 2024, DeWitte requested nude pictures from multiple purported minors; sent pictures of his penis to the purported minors; and discussed previous and potential in-person meetups for sexual relations with minors. Additionally, it is further alleged that DeWitte paid, and offered to pay, another Snapchat user, Christopher Allan Tisoy, to obtain and produce child pornography and to recruit minor boys for himself.  DeWitte was indicted on six counts of sexual exploitation of children (and attempt and conspiracy); one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children; one count of distribution of child pornography; and one count of possession of child pornography. Tisoy was charged by an Information on Oct. 29, 2025 with one count of sexual exploitation of children (and attempt and conspiracy) and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children.

Kansas

• In September 2025, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a lawsuit in Washington County District Court against social media company, Snap, Inc., the creator of SnapChat.  The lawsuit alleges that Snap knowingly misrepresented the app’s safety to parents and consumers by promoting it with “12+” and “T for Teen” age ratings on app stores, while simultaneously exposing users to dangerous and mature content that includes profanity, sex content, nudity, and drug use. The lawsuit cites that Snap’s own internal investigations reveal concerns about the addictive nature of its platform and its potential harm to users.  The lawsuit alleges multiple violations of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.

Utah

• In June 2025, the Utah Department of Commerce’s Division of Consumer Protection filed a lawsuit against Snap Inc., alleging that the app enabled sexual exploitation and digital addiction.

Florida

• In April 2025, the Florida attorney general filed a lawsuit against Snap, Inc., the operator of Snapchat, for allegedly failing to protect the safety of children. Snap allegedly allowed predators and drug dealers to use the platform, thereby exposing minors to potential harm.

New Jersey

• In April 2025, Makayla Johnson was charged with distributing and possessing child sexual abuse materials and allegedly used Snapchat to share such content.

Vermont

• In April 2025, parents of two children sued Snap Inc., for allegedly facilitating the sexual abuse of their 12-year-old daughters through Snapchat. In November 2020, Brandon Rhoades allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted the victims. The complaint alleges that Rhoades used Snapchat to contact and then “groom” one of the girls leading up to the incident, using certain features of the platform such as colorful cartoons and filters to deceive the victims about his true age and gain their trust. According to the lawsuit, Snapchat recommended that one of the plaintiffs use its “quick add” feature to connect with Rhoades, who lived nearby and went by the username “hockeylax30.” Although the plaintiff and Rhoades had no mutual connections on the app, Snapchat allegedly referred to him as her “friend” and “made him appear harmless and fun” by depicting him as a cartoon avatar, among other misrepresentations, the lawsuit claims. Claiming to be 17 while talking to the plaintiff, Rhoades allegedly used a cartoon avatar and Snapchat’s camera filters to represent himself as younger than he actually was as he began “grooming” the plaintiff — or developing an inappropriate relationship with her — on the app, the lawsuit alleges. The plaintiffs eventually met with Rhoades in person where Rhoades allegedly raped one of the plaintiffs. 

New Mexico

• In September 2024, the New Mexico attorney general filed a lawsuit against Snap, claiming that Snapchat’s design and algorithms allegedly made it easier to spread illegal sexual content involving children. The lawsuit said the app allegedly helped predators engage in sextortion, child trafficking, and the trafficking of drugs and guns. It also claimed that Snapchat became a place where predators could collect explicit images of children, groom them, and extort them.

The lawsuit further alleged that Snap misled users by making them think photos and videos sent on the app would disappear. However, predators could save this content permanently.

Snap allegedly ignored warnings about widespread abuse on its platform. Internal reports revealed that by late 2022, Snap was receiving 10,000 sextortion reports per month, yet failed to take meaningful action. 

In April 2025, it was reported that the court denied Snap Inc.’s motion to dismiss.

California

• In August 2024, Matthew Goyder was sentenced to 40 years in prison for using Snapchat to coerce minors into sending him sexually explicit images online. Goyder reportedly pretended to be a 14-year-old boy and blackmailed and threatened minors into sending him explicit images.

• In May 2022, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Snapchat for failing to prevent the sexual exploitation of minors.

Pennsylvania

• In June 2024, Jonathan Brodecki was charged with several felonies for allegedly sexually extorting 9 minors, aged 12 to 15, from different states. He allegedly added the victims on Snapchat, pretended to be a teenager, and asked them to send sexually explicit photos.

Illinois

• In December 2022, Kyle Peterson was sentenced to prison for allegedly sexually exploiting a 12-year-old girl. Between March 2020 to March 2021, he allegedly used Omegle and Snapchat to groom and coerce the victim into engaging in sexually explicit acts. 

• In July 2022, Ernesto Herrera was charged with allegedly threatening and forcing a teenage girl to send him sexually explicit photos through Snapchat. He allegedly received over 1,000 images from the 16-year-old, including child pornography. 

Do I Have a Case?

You may have grounds to file a civil legal action if you were sexually exploited through any online game, or any social media app.

As civil claims, these cases are separate from any criminal proceedings that may arise from abuse and focus instead on holding institutions and companies liable for damages. This means you may still have a claim even if:

• Your abuser is no longer alive.
• Your abuser was never charged with or convicted of a crime.
• You do not know the true identity of the abuser, but rather know only the screen name or online persona of the abuser.

Recoverable Damages in Sexual Abuse Claims

In addition to providing accountability and a sense of justice, civil sex abuse lawsuits allow survivors to recover financial compensation for their damages, which may include:

• Past medical and mental health expenses
• Future mental health expenses, including therapy, medications, etc.
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional anguish and psychological harm
• Lost income
• Other economic and non-economic damages

Our lawyers are actively investigating potential lawsuits from parents and families with children who have suffered harm or abuse through online games or social media apps or platforms.