Chief U.S. District Judge Renée M. Bumb sentenced former “American Ninja Warrior” champion, Drew Drechsel, to over 10 years in prison for committing multiple child sex crimes.
The United States Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey confirmed the details of the sentencing in a press release, June 26. The former competitor was sentenced “for receiving” child pornography and “enticement to travel for illicit sexual conduct.” Drechsel was arrested and charged in August 2020 after having a sexual relationship with a teenage victim he told authorities he met in 2014. The Attorney’s Office said they searched one of Drechsel’s phones, Nov. 8, 2019 “and found images of child sexual abuse” as well as photos and videos of the victim from when they were 14 to 15 years old.
“In addition to the prison term, Judge Bumb sentenced Drechsel to 15 years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $100,000 in restitution to the victim,” the release said.
Drechsel gained fame when he won the “American Ninja Warrior” competition in season 11 of the NBC reality television show, in 2019.
The disgraced TV star “pleaded guilty on June 1, 2023, before Chief U.S. District Judge Renée M. Bumb to an information charging him with one count of receiving child pornography and one count of knowingly persuading, inducing, enticing and coercing a minor to travel interstate to engage in sexual activity for which the defendant can be charged with a crime,” according to the Attorney’s Office.
‘American Ninja Warrior’ winner Drew Drechsel has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for child pornography and enticing a minor across state lines. https://t.co/1yvovZNBR8
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) June 28, 2024
“Drechsel admitted that he originally met the victim in 2014 through his activities in the parkour community as an ‘American Ninja Warrior,'” the DOJ stated. (RELATED: Sex Offender Sentenced Over ‘Deepfaked’ Explicit Images Of Child Celebrities)
The press release went on to say that “Drechsel admitted texting the victim and discussing his plans to engage in sexual activity with the victim.”
“At Drechsel’s urging, the victim traveled across state lines in July 2015 so that Drechsel could have sexual relations with the victim,” the Attorney’s Office stated.
