Roblox Retaliates Against Child Abuse Survivor Who Exposed Platform's Predator Problem

Associated Press

3 days ago

Content creator's viral videos led to six arrests before company silenced him with legal threats
A childhood survivor of grooming on Roblox is now facing corporate retaliation after his viral predator-catching videos led to multiple arrests and exposed systematic failures in the platform's child protection systems.
Stinar Gould Grieco & Hensley, PLLC (SGGH) and Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC have been retained to defend YouTuber Michael 'Schlep' — a 22-year-old Texas content creator who was banned from Roblox and served with cease-and-desist letters after his investigative work resulted in six confirmed arrests of alleged child predators operating on the gaming platform.
The legal action against Schlep comes as his removal has sparked the viral #FreeSchlep movement, garnering millions of views and prompting a major Roblox influencer to quit the company's creator program in protest. Crime journalist Chris Hansen has contacted Schlep about participating in an upcoming documentary investigating Roblox's handling of child safety issues.
A Survivor's Mission Becomes Legal Target
Schlep's anti-predator work stems from his own traumatic experience as a Roblox user. Between ages 12 and 15, he was groomed by a prominent Roblox developer who had official company merchandise distributed nationwide and contracted directly with Roblox for platform events. The developer sent Schlep graphic violent content, pornography, and engaged in inappropriate sexual conversations.
'When my client attempted suicide and was hospitalized, his mother contacted Roblox seeking help,' said Martin D. Gould, Founding Partner at SGGH. 'Roblox was unresponsive until she threatened legal action. Only then did they engage — and only to claim the abuse happened 'on another platform,' despite the predator being a contracted Roblox developer who the company promoted at events.'
The developer who groomed Schlep was eventually banned from Roblox — but only years later, after another female developer reported sexual abuse. Roblox had continued paying and promoting the predator throughout Schlep's ordeal.
Proven Results Trigger Corporate Backlash
Working with established predator-catching organizations including Predator Poachers (300+ convictions) and EDP Watch, Schlep's team achieved a remarkable success rate: six arrests from seven real-life confrontations with suspected predators initially contacted through Roblox.
Rather than addressing the safety vulnerabilities Schlep exposed, Roblox updated its Terms of Service to specifically target 'vigilante groups' and banned him from the platform. The company then escalated with legal threats under the Computer Fraud Act — the same statute used in Roblox's shameful lawsuit against another prominent critic, Ruben Sim, who has also recently retained the SGGH and Milberg law firms.
'Instead of thanking someone who was protecting children and working with law enforcement, Roblox is trying to silence him with the same legal intimidation tactics they've used before,' said SGGH Partner Steven Vanderporten. 'This pattern suggests a company more concerned with suppressing criticism than addressing the predator problem on their platform.'
Growing Accountability Movement
The #FreeSchlep campaign has exposed broader frustrations with Roblox's child safety record, with supporters noting the irony of the company punishing someone for doing the protective work they claim to prioritize.
'Michael is doing exactly what Roblox should be doing — identifying and stopping predators who target children,' said Milberg Co-Counsel Gary Klinger and Melinda Maxson. 'Instead of partnering with him, they're trying to destroy him. That tells you everything about their real priorities.'
National Media Attention Mounting
The case has attracted attention from major media outlets and child safety advocates, with several national interviews scheduled this week. The controversy has also prompted at least one major Roblox content creator to publicly quit the company's influencer program in solidarity with Schlep.
Roblox Corporation declined to comment on the specific allegations or explain why the company chose legal action over addressing the safety concerns raised by Schlep's investigations.
SGGH specializes in high-profile litigation against major corporations, while Milberg is a leading class action and whistleblower protection firm with extensive experience in cases involving corporate accountability and consumer protection.
Roblox whistleblowers Schlep and Sim are represented by Martin D. Gould, Michael R. Grieco, and Steven L. Vanderporten of Stinar Gould Grieco & Hensley, PLLC, Gary Klinger, Melissa Nafash, and Melinda Maxson of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC.
For media inquiries, contact Lynn Smith at [email protected] or Zoe Chipalla at [email protected].
About Stinar Gould Grieco & Hensley, PLLC
Stinar Gould Grieco & Hensley (SGGH) is a boutique national personal injury firm dedicated to advocating for victims of abuse and catastrophic injuries in high-stakes litigation. We pride ourselves on being Innovators of Law and Providers of Justice. Our attorneys have litigated and won cases nationwide, representing thousands of individuals, including thousands of survivors of rape, sexual assault, and childhood sexual abuse in many of the highest profile abuse cases across the country. These cases include claims against private and public institutions such as University of Michigan (Dr. Robert Anderson), Michigan State University (Dr. Larry Nasser), Endeavor Health (Dr. Fabio Ortega), professional sports teams, private and public schools, elite private boarding schools, orphanages, foster care programs, hospitals, mental health facilities, Fortune 500 companies, wealthy individuals (Jeffrey Epstein), and numerous religious institutions and related entities.
Recent successes include participating in global settlements valued at nearly $3 billion, with over $400 million recovered on behalf of survivors of sexual abuse and exploitation in the past 18 months. In addition to securing record recoveries, SGGH attorneys have also worked with clients to fought for and secure policy changes, helping protect future generations of children and adults from abuse and exploitation. For example, as part of a recent $21.3 million settlement in the hotel abuse case last year (one of the largest settlements in the country for an individual survivor), the firm also successfully secured policy and training changes for thousands of hotels improving hotel pre-employment screening and safety for hotel guests and employees nationwide.
For more information, visit sgghlaw.com.
About Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC
For over 50 years, Milberg and its affiliates have been fighting to protect victims' rights and have recovered over $50 billion for clients. A pioneer in class action litigation, Milberg is widely recognized as a leader in defending the rights of victims of corporate wrongdoing.
Milberg is currently involved in some of the largest and most complex class action cases pending in the country and is particularly active in the field of Information Technology litigation. Over the past three years, Milberg has settled on a class-wide basis more than 50 class actions involving privacy violations in state and federal courts across the country as lead or co-lead counsel; no other plaintiffs' class action firm in the country has settled and won court approval of more data breach and data privacy class actions during this period.
The firm has successfully brought forth cybersecurity-related claims against major corporations including Meta Platforms, Snap Inc. (Snapchat), Walmart, Bose, CVS, Facebook, Gannett Co., Advocate Aurora Health, Inc., Novant Health, Inc. and more — resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements.
Milberg is equally committed to helping survivors of sexual abuse, assault, and exploitation seek justice. Milberg attorneys handle complex sexual abuse cases involving schools, juvenile detention facilities, religious institutions, healthcare providers, employers, and other entities that allowed abuse to occur.
Milberg is actively representing sexual abuse victims in cases against Expedia Group Inc. and Securitas Security Services USA Inc., real estate moguls Tal and Oren Alexander, and the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan.
More information about Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC can be found at milberg.com.
Media Contact
Lynn Smith
[email protected]
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SOURCE: Stinar Gould Grieco & Hensley, PLLC
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