Austrian Man Traveled to UK to Meet 13-Year-Old Girl He Groomed
A court heard how an Austrian man groomed a girl online before meeting her in person
Norwich, UK, Austrian Man, Roblox, Grooming, Child Safety
Norwich: An Austrian guy named Michael Shablinger traveled to the UK to meet a 13-year-old girl he had been grooming on Roblox. He pretended to be 21 and spent months chatting with her online.
In June last year, he met her in a park in Hethersett, Norfolk. They hung out for about five hours until her mom found them. The girl had told her mom she was just taking the dog for a walk.
When her mom couldn’t find her, she went looking and discovered her daughter with Shablinger. He claimed he had just met her, but things were clearly more complicated.
After the meeting, the girl lied to her mom about what happened. But later, her mom found a secret phone hidden in her bed, which Shablinger had given her. It had messages asking for more meetings and even a picture of them kissing.
Police got involved when the mom contacted them. They found out Shablinger was trying to leave the country to meet the girl again. He was arrested at Heathrow Airport while trying to board a flight to Munich.
When they searched his phone, they found a bunch of indecent images, including some of the girl. He had encouraged her to do sexual acts and even recorded them.
In court, Shablinger admitted to meeting a child after grooming and other serious charges. He got an eight-and-a-half-year sentence, with part of it in custody and the rest on license.
He’s now on the sex offenders’ register and can’t contact the girl anymore. This whole situation is a stark reminder of the dangers kids face online.