Watch the moment police arrest predator for grooming girl he met on Roblox
Warning: some readers might find details in this report distressing
Alleged Roblox-related incidents across England and Wales are up 87% in a year, with the youngest victim reported to police aged just five years old, ITV News understands.
Police data released under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act shows there were more than 660 reports in 2025 that involved Roblox, the world’s most popular gaming platform.
Many of the cases involve alleged grooming, sexual communications with children, and other forms of online exploitation. Alleged victims ranged in age from five years old, with 11-year-olds appearing most frequently.
ITV News was also granted access to redacted police “free-text” crime logs, which record incidents as they are reported. Among them were allegations of adults engaging children in sexualised conversations, requesting explicit images, and attempting to move conversations off the platform.
The findings are a part of ITV News’ ongoing investigation into alleged grooming-related crime on Roblox, with experts warning that features designed to encourage interaction can also be exploited by offenders.
The mother of a teenage girl, who was groomed by an older man she first met on Roblox, told ITV News she was not surprised by the findings.
The mother, who ITV News is not identifying but is calling ‘Anna’, said that what happened has changed her and her daughter’s life “forever”.
The perpetrator, Carlo Tritta, was jailed for 28 months in April this year.
“When I found out what was going on, I really searched through my girl’s phone”, Anna told ITV News. “Roblox never came into my mind to go on.”
Responding to our most recent findings, a spokesperson for Roblox said: “We are deeply saddened by any instance of harm, and we have extensive protections in place to help keep our players safe.
“We have teams working 24/7 to support law enforcement investigations, we do not allow user-to-user image or video sharing in chat and we filter communications by default, including blocking the sharing of personal information to help stop attempts to move conversations to other platforms. When we detect violations, we remove the content and report anyone found to be breaking our rules to the appropriate channels.
“In January, Roblox became the first major online platform to require all users to go through age checks in order to chat, with the system designed to help prevent adults from contacting children they do not know by limiting communications to people of similar ages by default.
“In April we announced we would go further and our Roblox Kids and Roblox Select accounts now automatically manage both the kinds of content children can access and how they communicate on Roblox. Our Enhanced parental controls have also made it easier for parents to shape their child’s experience, including deciding game access and chat settings. While no system is perfect, we continue to strengthen our protections every day to help foster a safe, healthy, and age-appropriate gaming environment where children can learn, play and create.”
What did we find?
We wrote to all 43 police forces across England and Wales, using Freedom of Information requests, asking them for data on reports of alleged Roblox-related crime reported to them and the ages impacted.
A total of 31 police forces responded, explaining there had been a total of 664 reports to police that mentioned the word ‘Roblox’ to police in 2025. That figure was 355 in 2024, so its up 87% in one year.
As part of our ITV News investigation, we were also given access to what the police call ‘free-text crime reports’, essentially how a crime is recorded when it’s logged on the system in real-time.
Not every force was able to provide access to these redacted police logs, but from those we received, 46% of crimes on police records outlined perpetrators had allegedly carried out “sexual activity with a minor”, “grooming” or had “engaged in sexual communications with a child”.
Other examples of free-text crime reports given to ITV News by police included:
- “Offender is engaging in sexualised chat with victim via Roblox”
- “Unknown offender has contacted victim via Roblox and asked for nude photographs” otherwise he’d “hurt her and her family.”
- “Parent of teen has reported their child has been groomed on Roblox for months by an adult”
- “Suspect has been playing Roblox with victim and told her to pull her trousers down.
Each of these examples was recorded by police in real time as they were reported, with the youngest alleged victim being just five years old, while 11-year-olds appeared most frequently.
Lots of key details have been removed by police to protect any potential victims, with details on the progress of each case unknown.
So while the data only points to allegations of wrongdoing, it helps paint a picture of what could take place on gaming platforms like Roblox.
Other categories of the alleged crime reports we’ve received from police include harassment, malicious communications, stalking, and blackmail.
Questions have arisen before about what some children and teens could be being exposed to on popular gaming apps, like Roblox.
Last year, the government’s Independent Reviewer of Terror Legislation Jonathan Hall KC warned that teenagers “should not be using” Roblox after ITV News exposed extremist content targeting teens on the platform.
At the time, Roblox told us they “work swiftly” to remove harmful content, and that users should “report” anything that might make them feel “uncomfortable”.
Recently, the platform released new age accounts that would group teens into age brackets and limit who they were able to talk to.
A spokesperson for the government explained:
“We have announced world‑first restrictions on risky online features, including stopping strangers from messaging children on services such as gaming platforms.
“Predators often make first contact through gaming platforms before grooming children into sharing images on their phones. For this reason, Apple and Google have been given three months to ensure children cannot take, share, or view nude images on their devices.”
‘There are a number of dynamics on gaming platforms that make the risk of grooming higher than on other platforms online’
Online grooming is at record levels in the UK, with gaming platforms often used by perpetrators to target vulnerable teens – before moving onto other platforms.
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) has a dedicated 24|7 helpline to field calls from those facing, or at risk of facing abuse.
Lewis Keller, a senior policy officer at the NSPCC, told ITV News that perpetrators go on gaming platforms to seek out children.
“It’s incredibly concerning to hear that children who are very young are being contacted by predators on these services, and it’s clear not enough is being done,” he said.
The government’s recent social media ban announcement stopped short of mentioning gaming platforms, like Roblox, specifically. However, it did suggest limits on stranger communications with live chat functions.
“In live chat, there should be tools that prevent these conversations from escalating. That could mean keyword detection, blurring of phone numbers of email addresses when they’re sent in-chat.
“The tech is available and it’s really important it’s being rolled out by these platforms.”
“There are a number of dynamics on gaming platforms that make the risk of grooming higher than on other platforms online”
‘It’s a place where predators are to get children’
Anna’s daughter was groomed by someone on Roblox. Perpetrator Carlo Tritta, who is now behind bars for his crimes, was 18 while her daughter was only 14.
“When I found out what was going on, I searched through, like really investigating my girl’s phone,” she said. “Roblox never came into my mind to go on to.”
Tritta began messaging in-game on Roblox’s live chat function before requesting the teen’s social media handles and phone number.
Often called “off-linking”, this involves moving chat to a space that is sometimes more private, or more encrypted.
“There were a lot of messages, a lot of sexual videos. You could see the grooming in it, it had gone from innocent pictures to something a lot more sinister.
“I remember seeing one on my daughter’s phone of him being in his Sainsbury’s uniform in the toilet with his pants down showing his privates.”
Tritta also sent food deliveries, cards, addresses to his “girlfriend” and a brand new iPhone to the teen’s home – travelling hundreds of miles to turn up in person.
“My girl came downstairs and said ‘He was here last night’, and I said ‘Who was here last night?’ She said ‘Carlo was here last night’
“I went out into the garden to phone the police and as I was on the phone, he was hiding in the garden next door.”
Asked how Anna felt knowing the perpetrator of the crimes against her daughter was now in prison, she described it as “peaceful”, but feared “he’ll just come back again.”
She also did not think enough was being done to protect teens on the platform, telling ITV News: ” It’s a place where predators are to get children.”
The teen hasn’t been allowed to use Roblox since.
If you’ve been affected by anything featured in our report, there’s information and support available:
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