Problems at Roblox (RBLX) #4
Roblox (NYSE: RBLX — $28.1 billion) is a platform where millions of children, many between the ages of six and fourteen, play online. The Bear Cave believes Roblox is facilitating widespread child abuse across the United States including the mass production of child pornography, child kidnappings, and child physical abuse. In addition, The Bear Cave believes Roblox has potentially played a role in mass shooting events and may be used by foreign actors to spread antisemitism and terrorism.
In recent years, local news outlets have reported that predators have used Roblox to abuse hundreds of children. Here are a few examples:
In 2019, 29-year-old convicted pedophile Owain Thomas “groomed 150 children to engage in sexual activity using Roblox.” 60 of those children were under the age of 13 and in many cases Thomas used Roblox’s in-game currency, Robux, to solicit children. In one case Thomas “paid a 10-year-old victim 400 Robux to perform a sexual act while he watched him on a webcam.” A lawyer called the volume of abuse “possibly unprecedented.”
In September 2020, 48-year-old registered sex offender Clinton McElroy was arrested after convincing an eight-year-old girl “into sending sexually explicit videos in exchange for Robux.” McElroy “was previously convicted in 2018 of commercial sexual exploitation of a 14-year-old child.”
In June 2021, 18-year-old Ron Machluf was indicted for using Roblox “to lure and commit sexual offenses against several girls between the ages of 7 and 12.” According to the charges, Machluf would contact girls on the game’s chat and offer Robux in exchange for partially nude photos.
In July 2021, 23-year-old Terrence Barto was arrested for “indecent solicitation of a child, violation of sex offender registry and grooming” after he “contacted a 12-year-old boy in Texas via Roblox.” At the time Barto joined Roblox he was already a convicted sex offender in Washington state.
In August 2021, 61-year-old John Mathew Piecuch was indicted after posing as a 13-year-old boy on Roblox. He “contacted a 12-year-old girl and requested sexually explicit photos of her and her 5-year-old sibling.”
In January 2022, Sarasota County police released a redacted probable cause affidavit against 45-year-old Shane Penczak “on seven felony charges involving crimes against children” including “lewd and lascivious battery on a child.” Penczak allegedly “impersonated a teenage girl” on Roblox to meet his victims and “sent electronic [Roblox] gift cards in exchange for nude photos.”
In February 2022, 33-year-old Howard Graham drove around 900 miles to meet a 13-year-old girl he had connected with two days earlier on Roblox. Graham drove the girl from her home in Topeka, Kansas back to his home in Clayton County, Georgia. The next month Graham, who had a prior criminal matter from 2007, was arrested on multiple charges including “rape, kidnapping, and sex trafficking.” Police found the 13-year-old girl outside a Dollar General.
In July 2022, Roblox game developer Arnold Castillo was “arrested on charges of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and coercion and enticement of a minor.”
Also in July 2022, 19-year-old Ethan James Alfonso was arraigned “on ten counts of child molestation” after meeting a 10-year-old on Roblox.
In January 2023, a federal jury in Grand Island, Nebraska indicted 26-year-old Tadashi Kojima on charges he “willfully and unlawfully kidnapped a 13-year-old and took the minor across state lines with the intent to engage in illegal sexual activity.” The child’s father told police “his son had been communicating with someone while playing Roblox and then was invited to talk on a chatroom service.” Police found the 13-year-old boy along with Kojima sitting inside a white Toyota Avalon at a Git-N-Split convenience store.
In April 2023, 21-year-old Danil Baker met a 14-year-old girl through Roblox and “allegedly convinced the girl to share nude images.” Baker then “picked her up from school in Ohio and took her to a park [and] coerced her to perform sex acts on him.” At the time, Baker was out on bond for a separate pending criminal case also involving a minor. Ultimately, the 14-year-old girl was “found crying alone in the bathroom of a Kroger.”
In June 2023, 21-year-old Daniel Diaz was arrested “for contacting a minor for purposes of committing a felony offense” after meeting with a child he contacted through Roblox. Police added Diaz was “possibly in contact with other juvenile victims through Roblox.”
In January 2024, 27-year-old Darius Matylewich was indicted “for traveling to sexually abuse an 11-year-old victim” he communicated with via Roblox.
In February 2024, 18-year-old Brandon Roy Alvarez “was indicted for attempting to coerce a [10-year-old] girl to send images to him after befriending her over the gaming platform Roblox.”
On August 20, 2024, a 21-year-old Chilean man was arrested at LAX airport “on suspicion of contacting a minor for a sexual offense” after meeting a 13-year-old girl on Roblox and booking an Airbnb near her home.
On August 26, 2024, 44-year-old Maryland elementary school teacher Mark Cobb was “charged with sexual abuse of a minor, child pornography distribution and possession of child pornography” after soliciting “photos of a 9-year-old student.” The victim told police she chatted with Cobb “via phone and the game platform Roblox.” Police said they found “a black bag filled with children’s underwear in his office” and added, “we know that there are other victims out there.”
These cases are just the tip of the iceberg.
The Bear Cave believes many cases of Roblox child abuse go undetected by the media and police.
One person shining a light on undetected Roblox child abuse is Alex Rosen, an independent vigilante journalist who conducts sting operations to catch child predators. Mr. Rosen’s organization “Predator Poachers” is funded largely by viewer subscriptions on conservative media site Locals and has led to several child abuse arrests.
Several of Mr. Rosen’s recent videos show that predators use Roblox to facilitate their child abuse — all cases that have gone unreported by the mainstream media.
For example, in an August 2023 video, Mr. Rosen confronted Christopher Charles Burton, a 61-year-old man who had previously been charged with child molestation. Burton had engaged with one of Rosen’s decoy minor accounts on Facebook and when confronted admitted to child abuse crimes and talking with an 8-year-old girl on Roblox.
Below, Mr. Rosen, in blue, called Oklahoma police on Burton, shirtless. Oklahoma police arrested Burton for “indecent proposals or acts to a child.”
In the video, Mr. Rosen asked Burton how he met children and Burton replied:
“The girls I talk to and the boys I talk to, one of them I play Roblox with. I hate that game. I can’t figure out how to work it…” (13:47)
“I play Brookhaven [on Roblox] … There’s a girl she says she’s eight. But I don’t know why she picked me to talk to… I’m just her friend.” (14:13)
Burton later mentioned that the eight-year-old’s parents were divorced and he knew she was eight because Burton video called her after meeting on Roblox and “watched her sip orange juice.” Brookhaven is one of Roblox’s most popular communities and is rated as safe “for all ages” by the company.
In a separate November 2023 video, Mr. Rosen confronted 52-year-old truck driver Lewis Sharon Hasty who had been talking to minors online. Mr. Rosen asked Hasty how he obtained child pornography. Hasty talked about child predator groups and shared, in part,
“On Instagram they’d have links to go to and at the top it would say go to Roblox… You can chat with them on there… [Roblox] is basically like a game, but it is a chat line too.” (16:23)
Mr. Hasty said that the children he talked to on Roblox were “like 12, 13-year-olds” and added,
“They’d want you to buy them some games or something on there, and then they’d send you something on Telegram… They’ll tell you to look for their username on there and then you’d find them and friend them or whatever and they’ll say ‘hey, such and such’ and follow them around on these games and chat about stuff and… buy something at the store for them and they’ll send you something on Telegram.” (17:33)
Mr. Rosen asked: “So it would be a Roblox currency?”
Hasty replied: “Yes”
Below Mr. Rosen confronts Hasty in his hotel room:
Following Hasty’s arrest in November 2023 Mr. Rosen wrote,
“This child predator we confronted earlier today detailed how he would receive child p**n via the game Roblox. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this. If your kids play this game, understand that it is littered with predators.”
In the November 2023 video, Hasty also said CashApp was commonly used as a payment platform to purchase child pornography. In April, The Bear Cave published on safety risks at CashApp and its compliance partner Marqeta (NASDAQ: MQ — $2.44 billion). The Bear Cave wrote,
“The Bear Cave believes that Marqeta, through its partnership with Cash App, is facilitating criminal payments and becoming the preferred payment processor for child pornography.”
In a video last month, Mr. Rosen confronted 22-year-old Roblox game developer Amorie Hunt in a public park after he had been chatting inappropriately with a minor on Roblox.
In their conversation, Hunt talked about how he got into “condo communities” on Roblox, private groups that are often able to chat with minors on the less popular games within Roblox.
Mr. Rosen asked: “How common is it for people in these ‘condo communities’ to pursue age gap relationships like this?” (7:30)
Hunt responded: “Relatively common… people have multiple accounts pretending to be underage.” (7:40)
Mr. Rosen concluded: “Finding a pedo on Roblox is like finding a swamp in Florida, it’s pretty easy to do that.” (8:15)
Later that day, Hunt was arrested for child pornography.
Mr. Rosen is not the only individual exposing Roblox child abuse. A group of young independent YouTubers like Ruben Sim, Schlep, and others have produced dozens of videos exposing various predators and inappropriate content on Roblox.
In some recent videos, they have highlighted how predators use Roblox to obtain and trade child pornography with one Roblox user writing “16f selling!” and a disc emoji to represent their Discord username, an off-platform chatroom. Another Roblox user writes “Doing trades!” followed by a suggestive comment and wink face.
The Bear Cave is continuing to research child abuse on Roblox and can receive tips at edwin@585research.com or @StockJabber.
The Bear Cave is also equally disturbed by antisemitic and terroristic content on Roblox, ranging from school shooting games to Holocaust reenactments, some of which may be created by foreign actors.
For example, earlier this year one user uploaded a realistic school shooting game where children could act as a gunman and shoot fellow students hiding within the school. Below, children on Roblox can re-enact shooting classmates in a school cafeteria with a 30-second countdown clock until police arrive: