Greer Law Group, Colorado Online Grooming and Sexual Exploitation Lawyer

Social Media Abuse Attorney Serving Denver and All of Colorado

It almost never starts with anything a parent would notice. It starts with attention. Someone who listens, who takes an interest, who moves the conversation somewhere private, and who takes months to get where he was always going.

By the time a family finds out, the damage is done and the questions start. Who was he. Who let him near her. And is there anything that can actually be done now. This is the work The Pink Advocate takes on.

The call is free and it stays confidential. 303-331-6460.

What these cases look like

Grooming that began in a game, a chat app, a DM or a comment section and moved to private messaging
Sextortion: an image obtained once, then used to demand more, with threats to send it to family or classmates
An adult in a position of trust who used social media to reach a child privately, whether a coach, teacher, youth leader, tutor or family friend
Images or video of a child produced, traded or posted
An online relationship that led to an in-person meeting and assault
Trafficking recruited or arranged through a platform

The federal law most families have never heard of

18 U.S.C. 2255, often called Masha’s Law. A person who was a minor when they were victimized by certain federal sexual exploitation offenses can bring a civil suit in federal court. Two things make it unusual.

First, damages. The statute sets liquidated damages at $150,000. A survivor can recover either actual damages or that amount, whichever they choose, plus costs and reasonable attorney fees, and the court may award punitive damages on top.

Second, and this is the part that matters most to adults coming forward years later: since a 2022 amendment the statute reads that “There shall be no time limit for the filing of a complaint.” Not a longer limit. None. If you were exploited as a child and you are forty now, that federal door has not closed.

18 U.S.C. 1595, for trafficking. Where the facts involve trafficking, a separate federal claim reaches the perpetrator and anyone who knowingly benefits financially from participating in a venture they knew or should have known was trafficking. That one runs for ten years, or ten years from the survivor’s eighteenth birthday.

An honest answer about suing the platform

Families ask this first, and most pages dodge it. Suing Instagram, Snapchat, Discord or Roblox for what a predator did there is hard, and you should hear why before anyone takes your money.

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act shields platforms from liability for content posted by their users. Congress created an exception in 2018, known as FOSTA, for civil trafficking claims under 18 U.S.C. 1595. Courts have read that exception narrowly. In Does 1-6 v. Reddit, Inc. (9th Cir. Oct. 24, 2022), the Ninth Circuit held that to get past Section 230 a plaintiff must plausibly allege that the platform’s own conduct violated the trafficking statute. Allegations that a platform turned a blind eye to what its users were doing were not enough.

So a claim against a platform is possible in narrow circumstances and difficult in most. We will tell you honestly which one your facts look like. What we will not do is sign you up on the promise of a payday from a tech company and then quietly let that part of the case die.

Where the real recovery usually is

The person who did it. Under 18 U.S.C. 2255 this claim has a $150,000 floor, no filing deadline, and fee shifting. It does not depend on him being wealthy, and it does not depend on a criminal conviction.

The institution that handed him the access. This is the part families miss. Online grooming by an adult in a position of trust usually runs alongside a real-world role. A coach messaging an athlete at midnight. A teacher with a student’s number. A youth pastor on a group chat no other adult was in. If an organization put that adult in contact with your child, knew about complaints, or had no rule about private messaging with minors, that organization may be liable, and it is usually the defendant with insurance.

Colorado also makes the conduct itself a crime. Under C.R.S. 18-3-306, internet luring of a child covers using electronic communication to describe explicit sexual conduct to someone the actor knows or believes is under fifteen, along with an invitation to meet, where the actor is more than four years older. No meeting has to happen. A criminal case is not required for a civil claim, but a charge or conviction is useful evidence.

Evidence disappears faster here than anywhere else

Messages auto-delete. Accounts get deleted by the perpetrator the moment he thinks he is caught. Platforms hold data on retention schedules measured in weeks or months, and some of it is gone for good once it rolls off. Screenshot everything before anyone deletes anything, including the profile, the username, the handle and the URL. Do not delete the conversation, however much your child wants it gone. A preservation letter sent early to a platform can hold records that would otherwise be lost.

What to do now

Screenshot everything: messages, profile, username, any images sent or received, and the full URL of the account.
Do not delete the account or the thread, and tell your child they are not in trouble.
Write down the timeline. When it started, how contact was made, what platform, what changed.
If images of your child are circulating, you can report them. The NCMEC CyberTipline takes reports, and its Take It Down service helps remove images of minors.
Get your child real support. That matters more than the case.
Call before you talk to the platform’s legal department, any investigator, or any insurer.

What a claim can cover

Depending on the facts, a claim may seek compensation for counseling and psychiatric treatment, the cost of changing schools or moving, lost education, future care, and the emotional harm. A federal claim under 18 U.S.C. 2255 also carries the $150,000 liquidated damages floor and attorney fees. No one can tell you what a case is worth without reading the file, and anyone who tries is guessing.

Why families call Greer Law Group

Marlo Greer built The Pink Advocate around a simple idea. Someone has to be willing to say out loud what an institution did, and to keep saying it after the other side’s lawyers start calling you difficult. She is a trial attorney, she speaks about this work nationally and internationally, and she does not treat a survivor like a file number.

You will talk to a lawyer. No intake script, no call center, and the conversation stays confidential.

Frequently asked questions

My child was groomed online years ago. Is it too late?
Maybe not. Under 18 U.S.C. 2255, the federal civil claim for someone victimized as a minor, a 2022 amendment removed the deadline entirely. The statute now says there shall be no time limit for filing. Colorado’s own rule is separate and depends on dates, so tell us roughly when it happened and we will check both.

How much is the federal claim worth at a minimum?
18 U.S.C. 2255 sets liquidated damages at $150,000. A survivor can recover either actual damages or that amount, plus costs and reasonable attorney fees, and the court may also award punitive damages.

Can I sue Instagram, Snapchat, Discord or Roblox?
Usually not, and you deserve a straight answer on that. Section 230 shields platforms from liability for what users post. FOSTA created a narrow exception for trafficking claims, and in Does 1-6 v. Reddit, Inc. (9th Cir. 2022) the court held a plaintiff must plausibly allege the platform’s own conduct violated the trafficking statute. Turning a blind eye was not enough. Claims against the perpetrator and against any organization that gave him access are usually the stronger route.

Does there have to be a criminal case first?
No. A civil claim does not depend on a police report, an arrest or a conviction. A criminal case can supply useful evidence, but it is not a requirement, and civil court uses a lower standard of proof.

What if the person who did it has no money?
That is a fair question and often the deciding one. It is why we look hard at whether an organization put that adult in contact with your child. A school, team, church or youth program with notice of a problem is both responsible and insured.

Images of my child are online. Can they be removed?
There are routes for that, separate from any lawsuit. The NCMEC CyberTipline takes reports, and its Take It Down service exists to help remove sexual images of minors. Do that in parallel, and screenshot everything first so the evidence survives the takedown.

Talk to Greer Law Group

Free and confidential. Nothing moves until you say so.

The Greer Law Group
2950 Brighton Blvd Suite 25, Denver, CO 80216
303-331-6460

This page is general information about Colorado and federal law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case turns on its own facts.