- YouTuber Schlep, who is banned from Roblox, is warning parents about child predators on the platform.
- Schlep exposed predators trading child sexual abuse material for Robux, which led to six arrests.
- Critics continue to accuse Roblox of prioritizing legal threats over child safety.
DENVER — A popular YouTuber known as Schlep has a warning for parents about Roblox after the company banned him from the platform for exposing alleged child predators.
Schlep, whose real name is Michael, first logged onto Roblox when he was 8 years old. Roblox is an online platform where users can play millions of games created by other users. You can chat and interact with developers and other players from around the world.
By the time he was 10, Schlep says Roblox invited him to STEM events, and he connected with one of the platform's biggest developers. Over time, that relationship turned sinister.
"For years, this guy used power dynamics and groomed me," Schlep told EastIdahoNews.com during an interview at CrimeCon over the weekend. "The manipulation left me exposed to horrible, depraved stuff."
When he was 15, Schlep, who does not share his last name for security reasons, says he attempted suicide. His mother reached out to Roblox demanding answers, but he says it just responded with a suicide hotline email.
Schlep remained in the Roblox community and continued to build his YouTube channel as a family-friendly gamer. But private messages began flooding in from kids sharing disturbing accounts of predators lurking in Roblox.
"This was a game you'd never expect predators to be in," he explains.
Schlep, who is now 22, began documenting predators in Roblox who went by names such as "BabyBreeder9," "PeduRayPvist," "MAP4AAM" (AAM means "adult attracted minor") and "YoungNFertile."
It didn't take long before he says he discovered a child sexual abuse material trading ring where adults were giving kids Robux, the platform's in-game currency, in exchange for sexually explicit material.
"They were profiting from this," he says, noting that Roblox takes a cut from all transactions, even illicit ones.
Schlep began teaming up with experienced predator catchers, learned investigative techniques, and started to run decoy operations. Using fake accounts, he and collaborators posed as children and arranged meetups with adults seeking sex. In less than a year, he says their work led to six arrests — and now, the first guilty plea from a Roblox predator.
But in August, Roblox sent Schlep a cease-and-desist letter and banned him from the platform.
"It was a transparent attempt to bully someone into silence," says Steven Vanderporten, Schlep's attorney. "They should be working with him, not against him."
The incident has triggered widespread backlash, with critics accusing Roblox of prioritizing legal threats over child safety. Campaigns using #FreeSchlep and #BoycottRoblox are gaining momentum, while thousands have signed petitions calling for the company's CEO to resign.
This was a game you'd never expect predators to be in.
–Schlep
Vanderporten's Chicago-based law firm represents more than 800 survivors of online sexual exploitation. He says many of them are connected to Roblox and believes the number of affected children is vastly higher.
"It could be in the hundreds of thousands," he tells EastIdahoNews.com.
In August, the state of Louisiana sued Roblox, alleging the site has perpetuated an environment where sexual predators "thrive, unite, hunt and victimize kids."
Roblox responded by saying the platform is a "safe and enjoyable" environment for all users and is constantly implementing safeguards.
"Any assertion that Roblox would intentionally put our users at risk of exploitation is simply untrue," the company said in a statement. "No system is perfect and bad actors adapt to evade detection, including efforts to take users to other platforms, where safety standards and moderation practices may differ."
Schlep, who now has over 2 million YouTube subscribers, says Roblox needs to do more.
In one classroom video he shared, half of the students raised their hands when asked if someone on Roblox had ever solicited them for inappropriate acts.
"It's unfathomable," he says.
Schlep says his goal is not to shut down Roblox, but he wants better security on the platform to weed out predators. He encourages parents to disable chat features, monitor accounts, and keep open communication with their kids.
"No child should face predators in what's supposed to be a safe game," he says. "Nobody's trying to kill the game. I just want kids to be safe."
Watch the entire interview with Schlep and Vanderporten in the video player above.
