Another nightmare for Daniel Morcombe’s parents after their 6-year-old grandson was attacked by a “sexual predator” in a popular children’s game, as the couple issue an urgent warning all parents should heed.
- Daniel Morcombe reveals his grandson was attacked online
- Pedophile tried to set it up on Roblox
The parents of murdered schoolboy Daniel Morcombe have revealed how their six-year-old grandson was recently attacked by an online ‘pedophile’ in a terror incident that reopened old wounds.
Winston was playing Roblox on his iPad in the backseat of his car when he mentioned that a man had been texting him.
The couple, who now dedicate their lives to the safety of the children, were immediately suspicious.
‘Winston said Nana, Pa, this person knows my name. We just looked at each other and said, Oh, okay,’ Denise Morcombe told 7News.
“That doesn’t sound very good,” added Bruce Morcombe. “That smacks of an online pedophile trying to set Winston up and we were pretty scared.”
Daniel Morcombe (pictured) was kidnapped and murdered on December 7, 2003, while on his way to buy Christmas presents for his family.
Reviewing the message history, they discovered that the man had offered to help Daniel’s nephew improve his gaming skills.
While it may seem innocent on the surface, the Morcombes say it’s often a typical grooming tactic used by sexual predators to gain trust.
The couple captured the chat history, blocked the user, and informed the police.
They also messaged the user: “Stop contacting kids, you disgusting online.”
But despite the ordeal of the game played by millions of Australian children, Morcombe cautions parents not to ban their children from playing online.
‘Don’t take their ipad away, it’s not their fault.’
He says parents should look into disabling chat features in games and take a few other precautions, like keeping devices in common areas, maintaining privacy settings, and being aware of who their kids are talking to online.
Denise and Bruce Morcombe (pictured) have revealed how their six-year-old grandson was recently attacked by an online pedophile in a horror incident that reopened old wounds.
Winston was playing Roblox (pictured) on his iPad in the backseat of his car when he mentioned that a man had been texting him.
The incident was a cruel reminder of the parents’ nightmarish ordeal two decades ago when 13-year-old Daniel disappeared after leaving his home on the Sunshine Coast on December 7, 2003 to buy for his family Christmas gifts at the local mall.
Denise and Bruce spent years working tirelessly to keep the missing person’s investigation going until they finally arrested the killer in 2011.
Since their son’s disappearance, they have dedicated their lives to providing safety education to children through a foundation they launched in their son’s name.
Daniel was waiting at the bus stop when he was abducted by serial pedophile Brett Peter Cowan, then 34, and taken to an abandoned house where he was sexually abused and then strangled.
His disappearance sparked one of the largest missing persons investigations in Australian history, culminating in Cowan’s arrest eight years later.
The child killer later led police to the location where he had dumped Daniel’s remains, and the teen was recovered from brush in the Glass House Mountains in August 2011.
He was sentenced to life in prison at Brisbane’s Wolston Correctional Center in 2014, with a minimum non-parole period of 20 years.
Daniel was waiting at the bus stop when he was abducted by serial pedophile Brett Peter Cowan (pictured), then 34, and taken to an abandoned house where he was sexually abused and then strangled.
Cowan, now 53, remains an unpopular inmate because of his horrific crimes, which include a lengthy rap sheet of child sex crimes prior to Daniel’s murder.
The convicted pedophile has been the subject of several brutal attacks at the hands of fellow inmates, including being doused with boiling water in 2016 that left him permanently scarred.
In May 2018, he was stabbed in the ear and neck with an ‘improvised instrument’, sustaining superficial injuries.
Cowan will be eligible to apply for parole in 2034.