A 22-year-old Schenectady woman is behind bars after New York State Police say she communicated with a child under 17 in a sexual manner after meeting through an online game. The report came 22 days before Ansley Pope’s November 6 arrest, and she now faces charges of disseminating indecent material to minors in the first degree and endangering the welfare of a child.
According to WRGB, troopers first received a report on October 15 describing inappropriate messages exchanged between an adult woman and a child under 17. Investigators determined that Pope met the child through online gaming and reportedly communicated with the minor online in a sexual manner, the station reports.
Arrest and Booking Details
Pope was taken into custody roughly three weeks after the initial report came in. Per the New York State Police, she was processed at SP Princetown before being transported to the Schenectady County Correctional Facility, where she is being held to await arraignment. State Police said, “Pope was arrested and processed at SP Princetown. She was then transported to the Schenectady County Correctional Facility to await arraignment.”
The same WRGB account notes the child in the case is under 17 years old. No further detail about the specific gaming platform involved or the content of the messages has been made public in connection with this case.
A Nationwide Surge in Online Enticement Reports
The arrest lands amid what child-safety advocates describe as a dramatic rise in online enticement cases nationally. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reported a 158% increase in online enticement reports in 2025 compared with the prior year, with its CyberTipline receiving 1.4 million such reports over the course of 2025.
NCMEC says this type of victimization is not confined to any one app or network. “This type of victimization takes place across every type of platform, including online gaming, social media and messaging apps,” the organization notes. The group also says that in 2025, through automated alerts and manual review of chats and files, it identified and escalated more than 53,000 reports to law enforcement that were urgent or involved a child believed to be in imminent danger.
Schenectady County Family Sues Roblox
Online predation tied to gaming platforms has also drawn scrutiny in Schenectady County through a civil case. A Schenectady County mother is suing the game Roblox, alleging the platform allowed a predator to target her 12-year-old daughter, according to WNYT. That lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Northern California, alleges the predator posed as a child, built a relationship with the girl, and “sent graphic messages describing sexual acts he wanted to do on her and explicit images,” according to court documents cited by the station.
Pope's case remains in its early stages, and it is not yet known what plea she may enter or how the proceedings will unfold at arraignment.
