Advanced org under fire after owner revealed to be dating minor

Last night, Nicholas "truepain" Effland announced that his team had departed ImPerium as disturbing information regarding the owner of the organization came to light. truepain and the rest of his team had only joined the organization on March 28th, leaving them with less than a month of time as part of ImPerium.

truepain and others were first made aware of the allegations against ImPerium owner "Shadow" after a user going by "EskiValorant" posted an image of a conversation on Discord where Shadow appeared to admit to that he was currently dating an unnamed woman who was only seventeen years old while he himself was twenty-five years old.

According to the Canadian Government, while the minor might be of age to consent, due to the nature of the relationship between the woman and the organization owner, it might not be legal. It should be noted that the minor in question is currently part of the organization as a coach and reports to the owner.

The woman in question had responded to the allegations, stating that she has not engaged in sexual activity with the organization owner at this time and has her guardian's consent to the relationship. Despite the alleged acceptance of the relationship by the individual's parents, relationships with a clear power imbalance are considered unethical, especially when one party is a minor.

Dust2.us is not publishing the name of the woman in question since she is a minor and an affected party at this time. The exploitation of minors within esports is a sensitive topic as the players tend to be young and impressionable as they entrust adults with several factors including guidance, advice, and mentorship.

Meanwhile, Dust2.us has been unable to contact the organization owner at this time as the individual appears to have deactivated their twitter account and the organization's account is private.

When speaking with truepain, he stated that they had never signed a contract with ImPerium and thus were not contractually tied to the organization, making it easy for the team to part ways with the organization. truepain and his team are now operating as L00king for org and are 3-1 in Advanced so far this season. Their next match is against Good Samaritan later this evening.