Mom issues warning after son was murdered by teen he played Minecraft with online
A mom whose 14-year-old son was murdered by a teenager who he gamed with online has said she does not support an outright social media ban for children.
Lorin LaFave recently spoke to LADbible about the tragic loss of her son, Breck Bednar, who was murdered after being groomed online.
She said that she is hoping for a ‘change of culture’ around how young people use technology, and that she has long stood firm against a blanket ‘ban’.
Breck was killed on Febraury 17, 2014, by Lewis Daynes, who was 18 at the time.
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She was interviewed ahead of the release of the documentary From Minecraft to Murder: The Killing of Breck Bednar, which airs on Prime on Tuesday, October 20.
The Breck Foundation, which she set up after his death, works to educate young people, parents and schools about online safety and grooming prevention.
What happened to Breck Bednar?
Breck was a member of 135 Squadron Air Training Corps in Surrey, UK. After he began communicating with Daynes, who he played violent online games with, he started refusing to go to church, said he did not need to go to school and quickly turned on his family.
Daynes, a computer engineer who neighbors described as ‘reclusive’, groomed Breck for 13 months, bought him secret phones and promised him ‘great wealth’.
Breck was then lured to Daynes apartment in Essex, having lied about his whereabouts beforehand. The teenager was then stabbed in the neck by Daynes, who went on to use duct tape to tie his ankles and wrists.
The next morning, Daynes called police and told them Breck had tried to take his own life, and in the struggle to save him, he had accidentally stabbed him.
However, Daynes' story was very quickly debunked by investigators, and at the age of 19 in 2015, he was sentenced to life in prison for Breck's murder, and was told he must serve a minimum of 25 years.
A warning to younger children over the dangers of online grooming
LaFave said she had made repeated calls for help, including to the police, over fears her son was being groomed by a ‘predator’ online, but felt she kept coming up against ‘brick walls’.
She said that when Breck died, there was little understanding of how serious online grooming was, particularly when boys are the victims.
Telling his story is intended to help children spot the red flags of abuse.
"Over the years, there has been too many people to count," she told LADbible. "Parents, even professionals and police have all worked with us. So many people have said that by using Breck's story and other real-life stories it makes it more real and engaging and believable.
'We wanted to pass this message to younger and younger children'
"Maybe if only Breck and his friends had heard a story... because he was one of the early atrocities."
At the time, she said, people did not want to talk about it because they feared children would be scared.
"Nobody wanted to talk about it. At the time, they said their children would be scared. But I'd rather my child have nightmares because they're thinking about the dangers of what could happen than be sheltered from it, make a mistake and die.
"It has been really difficult at times, because we wanted to pass this message to younger and younger children.
What is the UK’s under-16 social media plan?
The UK government announced earlier this year that it plans to prevent children under 16 from accessing social media, with enforcement targeted for spring 2027. It will not apply to all platforms.
LaFave said Breck and his friends would have been the first to find a way around any ban.
“It’s never going to be 100 percent safe, but what I guess I’m hoping for is a change of culture, and so that we actually look at what children’s needs are,” she said.
“I want people to learn from Breck’s story, because it’s every parent’s worst nightmare.”
Information on support networks can also be found at the Breck Foundation website.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues or want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.
Topics: True crime, Crime, UK News
Thomas Bamford