Bloomberg Businessweek reported on the investigation and arrest of a pedophile who used the gaming platform Roblox to tame his victims, then kidnapped and sexually assaulted them multiple times. The man had assumed various identities on Roblox, but was best known as the creator of a profitable Sonic the Hedgehog fan game on the platform.

DoctorRofatnik created Sonic Eclipse Online, a game that allowed Roblox users to race as Sonic and friends, which surprisingly proved popular with younger users. As is typical of the platform's experience, users can purchase costumes and trinkets on Robux, and DoctorRofatnik claimed to be one of the platform's most profitable creators. He further claimed to be Jadon Shedletsky, brother of Roblux's longtime creative director John Shedletsky.

Many users were attracted to DoctorRofatnik's story, his popularity, his position on the platform, and his overtly sexual sense of humor. Some users also smelled danger. Perhaps the most shocking element of this story is that Roblox users, more than Roblox or traditional authorities, were alarmed by the danger this person posed and acted to expose his behavior and identify him.

In late 2020, a screenshot of a private chat DoctorRofatnik had with a 12-year-old child was posted on Twitter. I can't explain in words what I want to do with you. You are the reason I'm going to jail."

One of the people involved in the DoctorRofatnik bust is Ben Simon, a controversial Roblox YouTuber with the handle Ruben Sim. He was sent a screenshot of the above chat exchange, which he not only posted on Twitter, but also created a video exposing the practice and sent to Roblox's developer response team. Other users reported the account, as did the mother of the girl to whom DoctorRofatnik sent the message.

Roblox banned DoctorRofatnik's account and reported it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Nevertheless, he continued to work on other accounts and boasted that the controversy had increased sales of "Sonic Eclipse" (which remains on sale). Simon thought Roblox's response was weak-kneed: "Roblox spends a lot of time, effort, and money trying to convince parents that their platform is safer than it really is.

Further information would lead Simon to the identity of DoctorRofatnik: Arnold Castillo of Paterson, New Jersey. He called the Tucson Police Department, but was told they did not have enough evidence for a criminal investigation.

Roblox stated that Simon is not a "reliable source of information regarding our robust safety record."

Another user employed a new tactic to tell Sega that Sonic was being used by pedophiles at Roblox. The 22-year-old Japanese player wrote a letter to Sega executives and publicly tweeted at the company, and shortly thereafter Sega filed a notice of copyright infringement against Roblox. Sonic Eclipse disappeared in late 2021.

Then, in May 2022, a missing persons report was filed for a 15-year-old girl from Indiana. She had taken her personal belongings and left the state despite her lack of financial means. The detective assigned to the case soon learned from her sister that the girl had been talking to a man she met on Roblox named Jacob Shedretsky. Shedretsky bought the girl's paintings and began sending her gifts and food.

It took eight days for authorities to track the girl to Paterson, New Jersey, where they soon found her with Arnold Castillo. During a post-arrest interview, he admitted to using the identities Jacob Shedretsky, Jadon Shedretsky, and DoctorRofatnik and paying the driver $1,000 to bring the girl from Indiana. He admitted to having sex with the girl multiple times in the eight days following her disappearance.

When the FBI investigated why this happened, they were surprised to learn that a Roblox user had already exposed Castillo 18 months earlier. Says FBI Special Agent Len Rothermich." As for the ability of those kids to put it all together and identify Mr. Castillo, "Well, they might want to file an application with the FBI someday, and they might want to file an application with the FBI someday.

In August 2023, Castillo pleaded guilty to transporting a minor across state lines for sexual intercourse. The court found that Castillo was a recluse with "zero social confidence" who shared a bed with his mother, but had a talent for computers and could "make good money" by designing Roblox games.

U.S. Attorney Tiffany Preston outlined what she called "every parent's worst nightmare," the eight days Castillo's victim was confined to a rented room next to his apartment and repeatedly sexually assaulted. The girl's sister said in a victim statement that she now suffers from depression and anxiety, has difficulty even leaving her room, and refuses to attend school. She said, "These scars will remain with her forever."

The judge sentenced Castillo to 15 years. The scandal prompted a review of Roblox's policies and the creation of a number of new roles related to child safety alongside the Child Exploitation Moderation Team.

Part of the problem is the sheer scale of policing a platform with 12 million games and 78 million daily users; Roblox touts safety as a top priority, but according to one moderator, her team receives "hundreds" of daily child safety reports every day, and it is impossible to process them quickly. In the report, eight current and former trust and safety officers testify, highlighting inadequate staffing, failure to implement features they recommended (such as pop-up safety notifications), and the inability of the AI moderation system to identify signs of grooming.

A Loblox spokesperson refuted these claims, pointing to a "robust pipeline" of new safety features. The spokesperson said, "It is simply wrong to imply that the lack of immediate integration of certain ideas, tools, or features is a reflection of a lack of care or prioritization."

The real concern for parents is how many more Castillos there will be. Bloomberg provides data that since 2018, "U.S. police have arrested at least 20 people accused of kidnapping or abusing victims they met using Roblox." This includes a "deputy sheriff, a third grade teacher, and a nurse." Specifically, "a Florida man accused of trying to kidnap a teen he played with on Roblox, a New Jersey man charged with kidnapping an 11-year-old girl he met on the platform, and a California man who allegedly abused a child he also met on Roblox."

Others include.

Roblox said in a statement that the Bloomberg report was full of "blatant mischaracterizations of how [Roblox] protects users of all ages," and that "the complexity of child safety online and the tens of millions of people of all ages who use Roblox every day does not reflect both the reality of the overwhelmingly positive experiences that tens of millions of people of all ages have every day at Roblox". Judge for yourself.