Federal Case Continues Against Pennsylvania Man Accused of Exploiting Teen He Met on Roblox
- A Pennsylvania man accused of sexually exploiting a 13-year-old boy he met on Roblox will now face those allegations in federal court alone, after Monroe County prosecutors withdrew the separate stat…
- Destin Angel Petrides, 20, of Polk Township, pleaded not guilty on Aug.
- The county stepped back on Sept.
A Pennsylvania man accused of sexually exploiting a 13-year-old boy he met on Roblox will now face those allegations in federal court alone, after Monroe County prosecutors withdrew the separate state case they had filed against him.
Destin Angel Petrides, 20, of Polk Township, pleaded not guilty on Aug. 25 to a federal indictment returned a week earlier, according to WVIA. It charges him with two counts of receiving child sexual abuse material and one count of possession.
State Charges Withdrawn as Federal Case Continues
The county stepped back on Sept. 16. Prosecutors withdrew their charges and left the matter to federal authorities, WVIA reported, because the case reaches across multiple states and jurisdictions. It will still be prosecuted, the office said — just not by them. The state charges had been sealed by a judge, and the seal lapsed the day before they were dropped.
That state file was far broader than the federal one. It included attempted first-degree murder and aiding suicide, charges with no counterpart in the indictment now before the court. What remains is narrower and more specific: three counts tied to child sexual abuse material that prosecutors say was received in May and possessed in June.
Petrides was being held at Lackawanna County Prison as of WVIA’s Sept. 16 report. A federal trial is set for Jan. 4, 2027, in Wilkes-Barre, according to WBRE/WYOU and NewsRadio WILK.
Investigators Say Contact Began on Roblox
It began, investigators say, with a job offer.
According to the state affidavit as reported by WVIA, Petrides met the boy on Roblox several months earlier and offered him work as a developer on the platform. The conversation then moved to Discord.
From there, investigators alleged, he used that access to extort sexually explicit images from the boy and to coerce him into harming himself. The boy, who lives in Canada and is not being identified, told Canadian police that Petrides was targeting other children as well, according to WVIA’s account of the affidavit. Canadian police passed the case to a U.S. Homeland Security investigator, who brought it to Pennsylvania State Police in June, as FOX56 also reported.
Similar cases have surfaced elsewhere. An Indiana man faces 24 felony charges in a case involving a teen he allegedly met on Roblox, and six teenagers were detained in Brazil in an online blackmail investigation.
Petrides has pleaded not guilty. The charges against him are allegations, and prosecutors must prove them at trial.
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