A Canadian visitor was arrested on Hawaiʻi Island after prosecutors say he met a 14-year-old on the gaming app Roblox and traveled to Waikōloa to see her. Police charged 21-year-old Einreb John Pasuquin Dizon with first-degree sexual assault, and the arrest has prompted renewed warnings from child-safety advocates and law enforcement. The case is raising fresh questions about how predators can use gaming platforms to contact and groom minors.
How authorities say it unfolded
Detectives say Dizon connected with the minor on Roblox, flew from Calgary and rented a Waikōloa lodging where sexual contact occurred, according to the Hawaiʻi Police Department. The department says Area II Juvenile Aid Section detectives arrested him last Saturday and charged him the next day with first-degree sexual assault, a Class A felony. Officials say they are withholding additional details to protect the juvenile's privacy.
Court status and bail
He made an initial appearance in Kona District Court and was indicted by a Kona grand jury the following day, with bail set at $250,000, as reported by Big Island Now. Prosecutors say the alleged encounters occurred over several visits and the case will proceed in Kona Circuit Court. An arraignment date has not yet been scheduled.
Roblox response and mounting legal pressure
Roblox says it has added age-based limits on certain features and uses filters and monitoring to block harmful content; the company told Reuters it prohibits sharing images in chat and is working to implement age-estimation tools. The platform is also facing growing legal scrutiny: Kentucky's attorney general filed a lawsuit this fall and Florida has issued criminal subpoenas, according to reporting by the Associated Press and Reuters.
What parents and advocates are urging
Police are advising parents to set screen-time limits, enable parental controls and monitor what children are seeing, as stated by the Hawaiʻi Police Department. Advocates with Hoola Na Pua urge meeting kids on their platforms and having open conversations rather than punitive controls; "Approaching it from their point of view, meeting them where they’re at and not trying to utilize these platforms or games as another method of control, really just having an open dialogue with their kids," Andrew Aguirre told Hawaii News Now. Parents can also use built-in blockers, report suspicious accounts, and reach out to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children for guidance.
Operation Keiki Shield and past stings
The state has run multiple coordinated operations under the "Keiki Shield" banner since 2019, with the Attorney General's task force and federal partners conducting early runs that netted dozens of arrests. Island-by-island efforts have continued: a Maui operation in 2023 arrested nine people and officials have highlighted multi-agency cooperation in those stings, as per a report by the Attorney General's Office and Maui Now. Advocates note that stings remove predators quickly but cannot replace parental supervision and platform safety work.
Legal status
Dizon has been charged with sexual assault in the first degree, which under Hawaii law is a Class A felony. The Hawaii Revised Statutes define first-degree sexual assault and classify it as a Class A felony, and state sentencing rules for Class A felonies call for an indeterminate prison term with a maximum of 20 years, according to the Hawaii Revised Statutes and state sentencing rules posted on FindLaw. Court proceedings will determine whether prosecutors can secure a conviction in this case.
The arrest has renewed local calls for parents to be proactive about digital safety and for platforms to continue improving protections for young users. Anyone with information about the case was asked to contact Detective John Kari or Crime Stoppers, as noted by Big Island Now.
