Former competition show champ gets 10 years for coercing teen to travel for sex

The former champion of season 11 of “American Ninja Warrior” was sentenced to 12 years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty last year to receiving child pornography and enticing a minor to travel for illicit sexual conduct, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.

Andrew Drechsel, 35, of Saint Cloud, Florida pleaded guilty on June 1, 2023 to one count of receiving child pornography and knowingly persuading a minor to travel across state lines to engage in sexual activity.

Drechsel lived in Hamden, Connecticut between 2014 and Nov. 8, 2019 when authorities said he convinced a minor from New Jersey to travel across state lines to have sexual relations with him when she was a young teenager.

When he was charged in August 2020, prosecutors said Drechsel traveled to New Jersey with intent to have sex with the minor, as well. Authorities also said Drechsel induced the girl to manufacture sexually explicit images of herself and send them to him over the internet.

Authorities said they searched Drechsel’s phones on Nov. 8, 2019 and found images of child sexual abuse, including images of the victim when she was 14 years old. He admitted to authorities that he met the girl through his activities in the parkour extreme workout community as an “American Ninja Warrior.” A representative from NBC Universal did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Drechsel also admitted the girl traveled across state lines in July 2015 and that he had sexual relations with her, officials said.

Judge Renée M. Bumb sentenced Drechsel to 15 years of supervised release in addition to the prison sentence and ordered him to pay $100,000 in restitution to the victim.

An attorney for Drechsel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.