A 19-year-old man from Eastleigh in Hampshire has been sentenced to 28 months in prison after grooming a 14-year-old girl through the children's gaming platform Roblox.
Carlo Tritta was 18 when he first contacted his victim on the app. He built her trust gradually until she believed they were in a relationship. The grooming then moved across other platforms before shifting offline entirely. He began sending her gifts and takeaways at her family home in Manchester.
Following a year, the girl’s mother became concerned and reported the matter to the police.
"It's like a continuing nightmare," the mother told Sky News. She is now in therapy and on medication. She blames Roblox directly. "It's a child's game where predators are going on," she said. "It's like a nice playing field for them with children."
Tritta pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of a child, engaging in sexual communications with a child, causing a child to watch a sexual image and two counts of intimidating a witness.
His behaviour did not stop after arrest. Ordered not to contact the girl, he sent her greeting cards containing a new phone number. In one card he warned her that if the case went to court "both our names" would be exposed. He also called social services and the police to make false reports about her mother. He travelled from Hampshire to her home several times during this period.
In December he was arrested for attempting to pervert the course of justice. Three days after receiving a suspended sentence he returned to her home. He was rearrested and charged with the full list of offences.
Roblox allows users as young as five years old and hosts over 40,000 user-created games. The platform has since introduced age verification using facial estimation technology and limits who children under 13 can communicate with by default.
A Roblox spokesperson said the company was "deeply saddened" by the case and works closely with law enforcement when its terms of service are violated.
