An Alabama man is potentially facing the rest of his life in prison after being arrested for indecent conduct with a Lafourche Parish teenage girl on an online gaming platform. Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Captain Brennan Matherne says 24-year-old Landen Westfall contacted the girl while playing Roblox.
“We found at least two circumstances where he actually attempted to coerce her into taking her own life. And in other circumstance, successfully coerced her into cutting herself and harming herself,” Matherne said.
Matherne says Westfall also got the girl to send him nude photos of herself. Westfall is facing two counts of criminal assistance to suicide, 261 counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile and 15 counts of child pornography. Matherne says given all the counts Westfall is facing, he may never be a free man again.
“He’s facing up to 20 years in jail for one count of pornography involving a juvenile, not to mention all of the years in jail he could face for 15 counts,” Matherne explained.
Matherne says incidents like this underscore the importance of parents always monitoring their kids’ online activities – including Roblox, which is specifically marketed towards children.
“Roblox is a gaming platform that has over 100 million active monthly users, many of whom are adults. Many adults are playing this game with no bad intentions, but that’s not the case for all of them,” Matherne said.
Westfall is booked into the Lafourche Parish Correctional Complex, and bail is set at $750,000.
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