To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen recently hosted a Roblox safety panel to inform players and parents about the risks of online gaming. He wasn’t expecting his demonstration account to be banned from Roblox by moderators while live on stage. The presentation, which took place at CrimeCon 2026 in Las Vegas in late May, has now been uploaded to the journalist’s YouTube channel. It features ‘Schlep,’ a Roblox YouTuber known for conducting sting operations against online sexual predators; Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, who filed a lawsuit against the company in August 2025 regarding its safety protocols, and Sexual Assault Attorney Martin Gould.
In February, Hansen released an investigative documentary called ‘Dangerous Games: Investigating Roblox.’ In collaboration with Schlep, this dug into the multiplayer game to examine how features such as the online chat and its virtual currency, Robux, could be used by malicious people to exploit or manipulate other players, and minors in particular. During the CrimeCon presentation, Schlep invites Hansen to give a live demonstration of the Roblox ecosystem. “I think it’s one thing for all of us to just talk about Roblox. I think people need to see it,” he says.
Schlep notes that he “can’t legally play Roblox” – he was permanently banned from the platform on August 9, 2025, due to alleged violations of the terms of service. Roblox also sent him a cease and desist ordering him to halt his self-conducted sting operations. Instead, he hands the laptop to Hansen, and suggests he joins a game called ‘Ro-Meet,’ a chat-based service inspired by Omegle. The original Ro-Meet was closed by its creator in 2025, but other copycat versions have since sprung up; the one Hansen visits during this particular presentation now appears to be unavailable.
After cycling through a few accounts, Hansen is messaged by one user asking if he has Snapchat. Upon asking why, they simply respond, “IDK I am bored.” Hansen continues to attempt to chat with a few more people on the service for a couple of minutes, but is then suddenly disconnected. A pop-up message reads, “You have been kicked by this experience or its moderators.”
Upon refreshing the Roblox homepage, Hansen is met with a notification that his account has been banned “because of repeated or serious rule breaking.” The moderator note adds: “Your account has been moderated for violating our Terms of Use for inappropriate content/behavior.” The pair on stage wonder whether the moderator who implemented the action is watching the show live.
Throughout the rest of the show, Hansen and Schlep continue the conversation around online safety best practices and some of the history of Roblox. They talk to Gould, whose law firm represents Schlep, and to Murrill, who explains the reasoning behind her lawsuit.
Schlep discusses how problematic users often disclose their preferences through thin veils such as Morse Code or Caesar ciphers (a basic method of writing hidden messages where all the letters are replaced by those a certain number later in the alphabet). “It’s not surprising to see how bad it’s really gotten with the limited moderation that they’ve been applying to their platform,” he claims.
In June, Roblox introduced new age-based accounts designed to “align users’ access to games and features with their age.” Prior to that, it rolled out facial ID checks in November 2025. We recently spoke with Senior Director of International Communications James Kay about the company’s approach to player safety, and how Roblox is continuing to evolve its protections for users. We have reached out to Roblox for comment on this story, and will update with any response we receive.
