A 17-year-old boy from Ocala was arrested on felony charges after he allegedly directed several children each day that he met on the video game Roblox to “molest” their younger siblings and send videos of the sexual abuse to him.
In late February, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding a Roblox user in Marion County, later identified as Christian Scribben, who was instructing children to sexually abuse their younger siblings, according to MCSO.
The arrest report stated that while playing Roblox, Scribben allegedly told children to “film specific incestuous sexual actions between themselves and their child siblings.” In one instance, Scribben allegedly instructed a girl to allow her brother to “ejaculate inside of her.”
During an investigation, MCSO traced the IP address associated with the suspect’s account to a residence located on NW 40th Avenue Road in Ocala. The sheriff’s office stated that a search warrant was obtained for that property, and it was executed by MCSO on Wednesday, April 16, with assistance provided by the Ocala Police Department’s SWAT team.
While at the residence, law enforcement made contact with Scribben, and he allegedly confirmed that the Roblox account in question belonged to him. He further stated that he had to create a new Roblox account since his old one had been “shut down.” The report mentioned that Scribben’s old account matched the account referenced in the NCMEC tip.
After being read his Miranda rights, Scribben allegedly admitted to “proactively searching for children nearly every day” while playing Roblox. The report said that he described to investigators how he would instruct children to engage in sexual acts with their younger siblings, who were “as young as 8 years of age.” He then allegedly directed the children to record the sexual abuse and send it to him.
According to the report, Scribben claimed to have a “compulsion to exploit children online” for his own sexual gratification. He told investigators that he “tried several times to stop,” but he was “unable to.”
During the post-Miranda interview, Scribben allegedly said that he would “misrepresent his age to be one or two years older” than the children he was communicating with on Roblox in an attempt to appear “more acceptable” to them. He allegedly further stated that he “did this to four or five children, every day for the past year.”
On Tuesday, April 29, Scribben was placed under arrest and initially transported to the Department of Juvenile Justice. That same day, he was booked into Marion County Jail, where he is currently being held without bond. He is being charged with directing a sexual performance by a child, utilizing a computer to solicit a child while misrepresenting age, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
A court date for Scribben has not been scheduled yet, according to jail records.
“Due to the disturbing nature of these crimes and the evidence gathered throughout the investigation, detectives believe there may be other victims,” said MCSO in a media release on Wednesday, April 30. “If you have any information, please contact Detective Osthed at (352) 351-4710.”