Pokémon raises predator concerns

Game locations, creatures found near sex offenders’ residences in brief survey

As stories multiply about Pokémon-related robberies, engrossed gamers walking off cliffs and morbid discoveries, parents and law enforcement have begun to pay more attention to potential pitfalls of the wildly popular Pokémon Go. The Bay Area News Group decided to explore one such danger zone using the Megan’s Law sex offender database.

BANG recently sent out a team of reporters armed with the Pokémon Go app to a random selection of sex offenders’ residences in various cities — as registered on the publicly accessible Megan’s Law website — to find out just how close the

players get.

In the brief survey, reporters found the augmented reality game could lure players close to more than a dozen sex offenders’ residences — because of the proximity of both Pokémon creatures, which appear randomly and change locations, and so-called “gyms” and “PokéStops,” virtual gameplay locations that are permanently affixed to realworld places and can attract large crowds.

It’s worth noting that many sex offenders, some with crimes dating back decades, already live near parks or schools where children congregate, popular phone app or not. But legal experts say the game developer is ripe for lawsuits if someone gets assaulted while playing the game.

During BANG’s survey, reporters discovered a clutch of angry, pink cracking eggshells — known as an Exeggcute — bobbing a dozen feet from the buzzer of a 61-year-old convicted child molester’s Alameda apartment complex. Two doors down, there’s a place of interest for players to congregate, called a PokéStop, in the form of a decorative church facade.

In San Jose, players may be similarly led to the courtyard fountain PokéStop of a historic apartment building — just beyond the front gate of a 45-year-old convicted rapist.

And a Concord residence of a 54-year-old child molester sits between a PokéStop and gym — a place for Pokémon battles. On a recent Thursday, the block was swimming in creatures — a purple Rattata here, a Butterfree there, less than 50 feet from the molester’s apartment.

As the Pokémon Go craze continues with record numbers of users, players cover more and more territory, venturing into the nooks and crannies of their own communities and other unfamiliar ones in search of Pikachus and Aerodactyls. Many are young and not always accompanied by an adult.

Texas Tech University law professor Gerry Beyer, who has been following the craze, said if the game is leading players, particularly children, near sex offenders’ residences and someone gets assaulted, game developer Niantic could be liable.

“If a reasonable person would think it’s dangerous, then it could be negligence,” Beyer said. “I could easily make that argument for gyms and stops where there is a picked location by the company.”

Game disclaimers and warnings to stay alert aren’t enough to shield from liability either, he said, particularly involving children.

The biggest issues are the gyms and PokéStops, both fixed positions selected by the game developer, which often chooses those spots based on player input.

In a precursor to Pokémon Go, another locationbased game called Ingress that launched in 2012, users helped create what would become the stops and gyms, while others were based on historic places or public areas, Niantic CEO John Hanke told Mashable earlier this month.

“The PokéStops are submitted by users, so obviously they’re based on places people go,” Hanke told Mashable. “We had essentially 2½ years of people going to all the places where they thought they should be able to play Ingress, so it’s some pretty remote places.”

He said 5 million spots and gyms were selected by player submissions; the company has stopped taking recommendations. Hanke, a former Google employee, stressed they had to be publicly accessible and “pedestrian-safe,” and the company allows players to flag trouble gyms and PokéStops.

Niantic did not return multiple requests for comment.

There have been no reports of sex offender arrests related to Pokémon Go in California, but the state is paying attention, said Luis Patino, a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman.

“The division ... is aware of the growing popularity of electronic social media platforms and maintains a containment-model approach to all parolee sex offenders designed to minimize the risk of reoffending,” he said, adding that some parolees are prohibited from interacting with minors or using electronic devices that could attract potential victims.

The attorney general’s office runs the statewide Megan’s Law website, which provides residents the ability to know where sex offenders live in their community — and potentially in their Pokémon Go gaming area.

“We are monitoring the situation and are aware of the concerns about users’ privacy and potential safety hazards for children and members of the public using the Pokémon Go app,” said press secretary Rachele Huennekens. “We also recommend that parents and guardians of children and other concerned consumers be aware of risks and use common sense when using the Pokémon Go app.”

In Central California, the owner of a 72-acre soberliving facility that treats the mentally ill and sex offenders said he was upset the location-based game has a PokéStop at the Sunny Acres outdoor sign.

“I have no idea what Pokémon is,” ranch founder Dan De Vaul told the Los Angeles Times. “I have no idea who put the stop — if it was sabotage — because we don’t want kids showing up here.”

He said children visiting the San Luis Obispo site could place some sex offenders at risk of returning to prison for violating conditions of their probation or parole.

In Indiana, a 42-year-old registered sex offender was arrested earlier this month after a probation officer saw him playing Pokémon Go with a 16-year-old boy outside a courthouse PokéStop.

James Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense, a nonprofit that advises adults on media and technology appropriate for children, sent a letter to Niantic on Tuesday expressing concerns over Pokémon Go, including the physical safety of players.

“Children, in particular, are more likely to have difficulty identifying when game play may pose a real life threat to their safety,” Steyer wrote.

Earlier this week, Adam Springer, of Walnut Creek, escorted his 12-year-old son around Civic Park in Walnut Creek, watching him play the game.

“My wife and I discussed it, and if he’s going to go out there, someone better go out there with him,” Springer said. “I think it’s the realities of society today. All of these things happen all over no matter what, no matter if you’re playing the game or not. It’s all about situational awareness.”

“We also recommend that parents and guardians of children and other concerned consumers be aware of risks and use common sense when using the Pokémon Go app.” — Rachele Huennekens, press secretary for the attorney general’s office, which runs the statewide Megan’s Law website