Predator lured teen girl on Roblox, then drove 13 hours to pick her up and rape her, police say

Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News
·2 min read

A Georgia man made a 26-hour round-trip drive to kidnap and rape a 13-year-old girl he lured on the children’s gaming app Roblox, according to police.

Howard Graham, 33, picked up the girl in Topeka, Kan., before dawn on Feb. 20, then drove all the way back to his home in Clayton County, Ga., police in the Atlanta suburb said Wednesday.

The unidentified teen was found outside a Dollar General in Clayton County on Feb. 24, according to the cops. She’d managed to message her mom on Roblox, who called the police.

“Between the time they got here on Sunday and the Thursday she was released at the Dollar General, they had sexual intercourse many times,” Clayton County Police Capt. John Ivey said at a press conference.

Graham began messaging the girl on Roblox on Feb. 18, just two days before he would eventually pick her up several states away after convincing her to run away from home, according to police.

“As I said, this is Topeka, Kansas. This is not a short drive,” Ivey emphasized.

Graham told his roommates that the girl was his stepdaughter, but she alerted them on Feb. 24 that was not the case, police said. The roommates confronted Graham, who agreed to drop the girl off in the dollar-store parking lot.

“We’re truly lucky that we found this young girl and she was alive,” Ivey said.

Officers arrested Graham on Tuesday while he was working his job at an IHOP, police said. He was charged with rape, kidnapping and sex trafficking.

Graham confessed to his actions while in custody, according to Ivey, who added that the FBI would be joining the investigation. Graham could face charges in Kansas as well.

Ivey said he was unsure if Graham had preyed on other children using the same Roblox strategy.

“We work tirelessly to prevent grooming on our platform,” a Roblox spokesperson said in a statement. “We have stringent safety systems and a team of thousands of moderators who enforce a strict set of community standards on Roblox, including zero tolerance for sexual content of any kind.”