Man jailed after grooming girl he met on gaming platform Roblox

A man who groomed a 14-year-old girl he met on the online gaming platform Roblox has been jailed for 28 months.

Carlo Tritta, now 19, repeatedly messaged the teenager and encouraged her to send him sexually explicit images of herself.

Det Supt Rod Kenny, from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, said the victim, from Greater Manchester, "thought she was in a loving relationship but it was founded in coercion, control and abuse".

Tritta, from Eastleigh, Hampshire, admitted making indecent images of a child, sexual communications with a child and causing a child aged 13-15 to watch a sexual act.

He also admitted two counts of intimidating a witness and criminal damage after he twice travelled hundreds of miles to the girl's home as he tried to get her to drop the case.

Passing sentence at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, Judge Kieran Rankin said: "It was clear to you very early on that she was under 16.

"Your behaviour has had a significant negative effect on [the girl] and her family."

Tritta's abuse came to light after the girl's mother noticed a message on her daughter's phone in August 2025.

Tritta and the girl first met while playing a game on Roblox 11 months earlier.

Roblox is one of the world's largest games platforms, with about 40 million user-generated games and experiences.

The victim initially told Tritta she was 15 years old before admitting she was 14 in December 2024.

Tritta, who was 18 when they first met online, encouraged his victim to move their communication to messaging services including WhatsApp and Snapchat, where he professed his love for her.

He also sent takeaway food and a secret phone to her home.

While the conversation first focused on the game, the messages became a lot more disturbing.

Det Supt Kenny said: "The young girl in this case thought she was in a loving relationship but it was founded in coercion, control and abuse.

"The offender's main driver was to obtain indecent images of her as a child.

"He used a number of methods to do that - flattery, gifts, rewards."

Tritta was arrested before being released on police bail, with strict conditions not to either contact the girl or visit her home.

But he ignored those orders and twice travelled 200 miles (322km) from Hampshire to the victim's house, broke the doorbell camera and let himself inside to confront her.

He also sent her two cards, asking her not to support the prosecution as well as reporting her family to social services. He falsely claimed her mother had drugs in the home.

During his police interview, Tritta was asked if he knew whether his actions had been illegal due to the girl's age.

He replied that he now knew because he was under investigation.

In a statement read out in court, the girl said she "felt trapped and upset" and was "scared of going downstairs at night" because she thought Tritta would be there.

Her mother said the family were "constantly on edge" at home, which "no longer feels like a safe space".

She told the court her daughter "now lives with fear and anxiety and goes to therapy because of the stress".

Karina Lyon, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said Tritta had preyed on the young teenager.

"His actions, for his own sexual gratification, have caused fear and anxiety for the young victim and her family," she said.

"Not only is Tritta a sexual predator, but he has also exhibited deeply troubling behaviour by attending the girl's address in breach of his bail and a court order, damaging property and trying to interfere with witnesses."

A spokesperson for Roblox said it was "saddened to hear of this troubling case".

"With more than 144 million daily active users on Roblox, cases of harm are rare, but we know any incident of harm is one too many and we are committed to building safeguards designed to prevent that from happening.

"Roblox requires all users to go through age checks in order to communicate on our platform, with the system designed to limit communications to people of similar ages and those they already know.

"Our policies firmly prohibit any kind of child exploitation and we have extensive safety systems in place to help prevent user-to-user image sharing, limit chat for younger users, and block the sharing of personal information."