VT Digger: Snapchat sued in connection with Vermont child sexual abuse case
- lizaearle
- 2 days ago
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Snapchat sued in connection with Vermont child sexual abuse case
The events described in the case have served as a rallying cry for advocates of the “Kids Code,” a bill currently considered by Vermont lawmakers that would require social media platforms to adjust their design codes for users under 18.
by Habib Sabet April 15, 2025, 5:46 pm
The parents of two Vermont children have sued Snap Inc., which owns and operates Snapchat, accusing the social media company of aiding and abetting a man who allegedly sexually abused their daughters.
The lawsuit stems from a November 2020 incident in which Brandon Rhoades, then 24, allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted two Vermont girls, both of whom were 12 at the time. Rhoades was charged with five felonies in connection with the incident, and last year he was convicted of aggravated sexual assault against a victim under 13 years old after reaching a plea deal with the state.
The 88-page complaint against Snap and Rhoades now alleges that the company “facilitated, encouraged, and ensured the connection between Rhoades and the girls,” who are referred to as E.R. and N.S. to protect their identities.
The complaint argues that Rhoades used Snapchat to contact and then “groom” one of the girls leading up to the incident, using certain features of the platform such as colorful cartoons and filters to deceive the victims about his true age and gain their trust.
The nine-count lawsuit also accuses Snap of a slew of other civil violations in connection with emotional and psychological harms the app allegedly causes minors through addictive features that are “designed to control and manipulate” young users, according to the complaint.
“This lawsuit further seeks to hold Snap and its Snapchat social media product responsible for causing and contributing to the burgeoning mental health crisis perpetrated upon the children and teenagers of the United States by Snap,” the complaint reads, “and, specifically, for the harms Snap caused to minors E.R. and N.S. beginning when they were only 10 years old.”
The case dovetails with Vermont lawmakers’ ongoing efforts to rein in social media platforms that advocates say prey on vulnerable teenagers. The story behind the case has served as a rallying cry for supporters of a bill known as the “Kids Code.”
The bill, which passed the Vermont Senate last month, would require social media companies to adjust algorithms and privacy settings for users under 18.
Lawyers from the Barre-based Martin Delaney & Ricci Law Group filed the suit last month in Vermont Superior Court on behalf of the victims’ parents (who are also referred to by initials in the suit to protect the victims’ identities).
Initially, the case was sealed in accordance with Vermont’s childhood sexual abuse statute, which keeps cases involving the sexual or physical abuse of minors under wraps until a judge makes a preliminary ruling that lends sufficient credence to the allegations. On Friday, however, the case was moved to the U.S. District Court in Burlington, where it was unsealed.
The plaintiffs are also being represented by the Social Media Victims Law Center, an advocacy group that has filed similar cases against companies like Snap and Meta in Connecticut and Oregon, among other states.
“There is a reason these predators are using Snapchat, and it’s because Snapchat provides them with the tools,” said Laura Marquez-Garrett, an attorney working on the case for the Social Media Victims Law Center, in an interview. “It is essentially matchmaking for predators.”
Snap did not respond to VTDigger’s request for comment Monday. VTDigger could not reach Brandon Rhoades for comment. He is currently serving a prison sentence for his assault on one of the victims at Vermont’s Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans.
‘Rhoades was not her “friend.”
N.S. and E.R. were both 12 and had both been using Snapchat for over a year when 24-year-old Brandon Rhoades entered their lives.
According to the lawsuit, Snapchat recommended that N.S. use its “quick add” feature to connect with Rhoades, who lived nearby and went by the username “hockeylax30.” Although N.S. and Rhoades had no mutual connections on the app, Snapchat referred to him as her “friend” and “made him appear harmless and fun” by depicting him as a cartoon avatar, among other misrepresentations, the lawsuit claims.
“On information or belief, Snap knew or should have known that N.S. was a minor and that Rhoades was an adult,” the complaint reads, but it still encouraged the 12-year-old to match with the man.
Once they had added each other, the app “pushed” N.S. to engage with Rhoades, the lawsuit alleges, urging her to increase her “Snap Score” — a feature that rewards users with points the more they use the app — by messaging with her “friend.”
“Rhoades was not her ‘friend.’ He was a sexual predator,” the complaint reads.
Claiming to be 17 while talking to N.S., Rhoades used a cartoon avatar and Snapchat’s camera filters to represent himself as younger than he actually was as he began “grooming” N.S. — or developing an inappropriate relationship with her — on the app, the lawsuit alleges.
Eventually, they agreed to meet in person.
On Nov. 1, 2020, N.S. slept over at E.R.’s house. Once E.R.’s mother fell asleep the girls snuck out and met Rhoades.
Rhoades picked the girls up in his car and gave them alcohol and a nicotine vape, neither of which they had tried before, according to a police investigator’s report of the incident included in the criminal case documents.
Once the girls were intoxicated, the girls later told police, Rhoades tried to kiss N.S., who left the car to be sick and then ran away. E.R. told investigators that Rhoades then raped her, the police report states.
When E.R. later got out of the car to find her friend, Rhoades drove away, leaving the girls alone in the cold night, miles from home, according to the police report.
An off-duty police officer later encountered the two children walking on Route 2 without jackets on and picked them up, the report reads.
Rhoades was arrested several days after the incident and charged with five felonies in connection with the incident, according to public records. In December 2024, he was convicted of aggravated sexual assault against a victim under 13 years old after agreeing to a plea deal and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Snapchat’s ‘inherently dangerous’ design
The lawsuit accuses Snap of “consciously supporting and aiding and abetting” Rhoades’ crime, and it seeks to hold the company liable for failing to warn the victims and their parents that Snapchat was connecting young children with adults.
At the same time, the suit more broadly alleges that the social media platform has intentionally designed its app to addict minors like N.S. and E.R., ultimately causing significant emotional and physical damage to its young users.
“Snapchat encourages harmful forms of social comparison and inevitably pushes such children towards harmful ‘rabbit holes,’ causing anxiety, depression, eating disorders, self-harm, and suicidality,” the complaint reads.
Marquez-Garrett said the suit seeks to hold Snap accountable for contributing to an epidemic of social media addiction.
“These kids will tell you with tears shooting down their eyes, shaking, ‘I don’t know why, but I can’t stop… I can’t live without Snapchat,’” she said, referring to interviews with dozens of children she has conducted in her advocacy work.
Among the many claims that the lawsuit leveled against the company are that it has violated the Vermont Consumer Protection Act and has unjustly enriched itself with advertising revenue by allowing predators like Rhoades to use the site.
The complaint asks the court for punitive damages against Snap, among other requests for monetary compensation.
The suit, which was originally filed in Vermont state court, was moved to U.S. District Court in Burlington following a request from Snap, which argued in court filings that Rhoades had been “fraudulently misjoined” to the case and that, since Snap isn’t a Vermont-specific company, the case should be in federal court.
But Marquez-Garrett said this was an effort by the company to find a more favorable jurisdiction.
“These companies, they don’t want to be in state court,” she said. “They don’t want the magnifying glass that state courts put on them.”
On Monday, lawyers for the victims’ parents filed an emergency motion to remand the case back to Vermont state court.
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