Goodyear man sentenced to 21 years for exploiting children he targeted on Roblox

A Goodyear man has been sentenced to 21 years in prison and lifetime supervised probation for sexually exploiting minors he targeted through online gaming platforms, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced.

Richard Billingsley, 21, used Roblox to contact victims before moving conversations to the messaging platform Discord, where he groomed and coerced three pre-teen children into sending sexually explicit photos and videos, prosecutors said.

The victims lived in North Carolina, New Jersey and Texas.

Goodyear police received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children flagging a user who had uploaded child sexual abuse material to Discord in 2025.

A search of Billingsley’s devices turned up more than 3,400 files, authorities said.

Billingsley pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor.

“Online predators are master manipulators and relentless in their search of a victim to exploit,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a statement. “Grooming can happen on any app where you can send messages.”

How parents can protect their kids online

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office offers a free online toolkit for parents called “Cyber Predators, Real Risks,” which includes videos, red-flag checklists and expert guidance on how predators groom children through gaming platforms and social media.

According to the national nonprofit Thorn, 40% of minors have been approached online by someone trying to manipulate them online, and roughly 1 in 4 children ages 9 to 12 have been asked to send nude photos by a stranger.