The popular game Pokemon Go unintentionally attracts its young players to some real-life monsters, as a senator in New York reports. In other words, the game could inadvertently give easy access to pedophiles to new victims.
Senators Jeffrey Klein, of Westchester County, and Diane Savino, of New York, are calling for new legislation to protect children from augmented reality games, including Pokemon Go. Klein wants to pass a bill that would ban registered sex offenders from accessing the game, so they don't try to lure young players into their homes under the pretext of catching rare Pokemon. Sivano has joined Klein in trying to introduce and pass the bill.
A report titled «Protection of Our Children: How Pokemon Go and Other Games Expose Children to Pedophiles» revealed that the cute creatures of the game appear in front of the homes of registered sexual crime offenders throughout the city.
The research found that 73 of the 100 addresses of sexual offense perpetrators were in an area that had an element related to Pokemon Go. The researchers visited the perpetrators' homes and found that Pokemon appeared there 57 percent of the time.
The mobile game uses the camera and GPS functions of a smartphone to match the real world with digital creatures. Also many Pokestops or gyms were located near the homes of convicted pedophiles.
The players of the game can also use a “lure” at a PokeStop to attract Pokemon characters to a specific location. However, the study did not find that the perpetrators were the ones who placed Pokemon Go items near their homes.
Klein and Savino have sworn to enact legislation that will force the so‑called gamemakers «augmented reality»», to remove characters from areas near offenders and it will be illegal for pedophiles to play the games.
Their bill would prohibit sex offenders from accessing games like Pokemon Go and would prohibit any features of the game from appearing within 100 feet of sex offenders' residences.
The developer of Pokemon GO, Niantic Labs, did not respond immediately to the request for comment.
