Man who groomed 14-year-old girl he met on Roblox jailed for 28 months | UK news
A man who obsessively groomed a 14-year-old girl he met through the online gaming platform Roblox was sentenced to 28 months in prison.
Carlo Tritta, now 19, kept explicit photos of the girl and traveled hundreds of miles from his home in Eastleigh, Hampshire, to show up uninvited at her home in Manchester.
Police said the case shone a light on online dangers to children and the NSPCC said tech companies must prioritize the safety of young children.
DC Jodi Bartlett, who investigated the case, said: “Tritta’s behavior reveals the horrific truths about how criminals use the online world to target and harm vulnerable people. Do you really know who you or your child are talking to online?”
“The victim in this case was only 14 years old. She and her mother were subjected to a campaign of fear and harassment at the hands of the obsessive and predatory Tritta.”
In a victim impact statement heard at Manchester’s Minshull Street crown court on Thursday, the girl said she “felt trapped and sad” and was “scared to go downstairs at night” because she thought the defendant would be there.
The victim’s mother told the court they were “constantly tense” in their home, which “no longer felt like a safe space” and were considering moving.
The sentencing hearing heard Tritta had “highly sexually explicit” conversations with his victim and shared intimate images and videos.
He first contacted the girl through Roblox in 2024 before moving their online conversations to Discord, WhatsApp and Snapchat.
Police were alerted last August after the mother discovered the messages and images.
Tritta was arrested and interrogated, but breached his bail conditions when he went to the girl’s home in Manchester in an attempt to get her to drop the case.
Prosecutor Rachael Yarwood said Tritta entered the back door of the property and confronted the complainant despite her asking him to leave.
He said: “He also sent her letters, attempted to contact her by phone and made attempts to obstruct the criminal investigation.”
Tritta later admitted perverting the course of justice and last December was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years.
Just three days later he returned to the complainant’s home and attempted to confront her as she entered the property and damaged a video camera. He was arrested again.
Tritta pleaded guilty to 25 counts of making indecent images in the most serious category A classification, including sexual communication with a child and causing a child to watch a sexual act, all committed between January and August 2025.
He also admitted intimidating the witness and causing criminal damage.
Edward Steele, defending, said Tritta was “essentially fixated on his victim”, “partly a function of his neurological condition”.
The court heard the defendant had Asperger’s syndrome with mixed anxiety and depressive disorder, which “may have compromised his ability to understand what he was doing”.
Recorder Ciaran Rankin ruled that Tritta’s behavior over a period of time should be reflected in the immediate period of custody.
He also noted that the author of the pre-sentence report considered Tritta to be a high risk of harming children and that the witness intimidation offenses were committed just days after the court verdict was handed down.
The NSPCC said the case highlighted the dangers young people face when using platforms such as Roblox.
A spokesperson said: “The responsibility for online safety should not rest with parents and children. Tech companies should ensure young people’s safety is at the forefront of their platforms from day one of the design process.”
