Former American Ninja Warrior winner Andrew “Drew” Drechsel has been sentenced to just over 10 years in prison after being accused of a series of child sex crimes.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey confirmed in a news release that the 35-year-old was ordered “121 months in prison for receipt of child pornography and travel enticement for illicit sexual conduct.”
The disgraced reality star, best known for winning season 11 of American Ninja Warrior in 2019, was arrested at her home in St. Cloud, Florida, in 2020.
On June 1, 2023, Drechsel “pleaded guilty” before “Senior 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 to another state to engage in sexual activity for which the defendant may be charged with a crime.”
According to the prosecutor’s statement, the judge sentenced Drechsel to 15 years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $100,000 in restitution to the victim in addition to the prison term.
Former American Ninja Warrior winner Andrew ‘Drew’ Drechsel has been sentenced to just over 10 years in prison after being charged with a series of child sex crimes.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey confirmed in a news release that he received “121 months in prison for receipt of child pornography and travel enticement for illicit sexual conduct.”
Known by his nickname ‘the real-life Ninja,’ Drechsel allegedly began a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl in New Jersey in 2015, documents obtained by DailyMail.com show.
Drechsel apparently met the alleged victim at an American Ninja Warrior contestant event, where they exchanged numbers and began texting.
During their alleged correspondence, Drechsel is said to have arranged for the girl, who was living in New Jersey at the time, to visit his gym, the Real Life Ninja Academy, in Hamden, Connecticut, in July 2015, as a gift for her birthday. number 15.
The couple exchanged text messages about ‘plans for sexual activity’ before their visit, the complaint states.
During his visit to the gym, Drechsel and the girl allegedly became intimate inside his office after his girlfriend, April Beckner, left the facility.
Prosecutors say Drechsel placed a mattress and blanket behind a wall in his office where he allegedly had sex with the teen.
The girl told her mother about the alleged sexual encounter later that day.
When the mother confronted Drechsel about the incident, she claims he “did not deny the sexual activity, but rather stated that he did not know her age at the time.”
Just a few weeks later, Drechsel contacted the victim again and they talked about having sex again, prosecutors say.
The Ninja Warrior champion allegedly told the victim that the next time they met, unlike the previous occasion, they would not have “time to deal with (the victim’s) shyness.”
The teenager is said to have confessed that, although she was nervous, it would not happen again.
“PSH, we’ll see, I guess,” Drechsel is said to have responded, to which the girl said that “it would be better” for him the next time they met.
The disgraced reality star, best known for winning season 11 of American Ninja Warrior in 2019, was arrested at her home in St. Cloud, Florida in 2020 (seen in 2019)
The following January, Drechsel texted the girl to inform her that he was traveling from Connecticut to New Jersey and reportedly told her he wanted to meet up for another sexual encounter.
He reportedly picked up the teenager from her home and drove her to a restaurant parking lot in Marlton, where they had sex.
After reviewing Drechsel’s bank account activity, investigators say her card was charged at the Marlton restaurant for $37.76 on Jan. 2, 2016, the same day the girl claims the sexual encounter occurred.
According to the girl, Drechsel picked up food after the encounter ended so he would have an excuse to tell his girlfriend when she returned home.
The girl said they had sex several more times between the ages of 15 and 17, according to the complaint.
They also communicated regularly on Skype, where Drechsel allegedly ordered the girl to remove all of her clothes on numerous occasions and filmed the encounters with his cell phone without her knowledge.
According to the complaint, investigators found sexual images and videos of the girl on Drechsel’s old cell phone. One of the images was taken when she was just 14 years old.
In a text message exchanged on June 26, 2016, when the girl was 16, Drechsel allegedly messaged her saying, “Skype now?”
The girl responded that she did not feel comfortable video chatting with Drechsel and allegedly added that she “felt like he wasn’t having fun.”
Drechsel reportedly reassured her: “It’s always fun for me, you’re always fantastic and I wish I was there to help.”
Drechsel and Beckner welcomed their first child together, a boy, in December 2019.
The victim came forward to police in June 2019, according to the complaint. Officers spoke to the girl’s mother, now 19, who confirmed that her daughter confided in her when the sexual relationship began.
According to the mother, she did not report the incident to the police at the time because her daughter threatened to harm herself if she did.
The charges against Drechsel include manufacturing child pornography, enticing a minor to travel for the purpose of illicit sexual conduct, traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and using interstate commerce to entice a minor.
At the time, Drechsel’s attorney, Frank Riccio, said his client planned to plead not guilty to all charges.
“Mr. Drechsel is presumed innocent of the charges and that presumption will continue throughout the pendency of his case,” Riccio tweeted. “He intends to plead ‘not guilty.’ It is respectfully requested that the privacy of Mr. Drechsel and his family be respected.”
Drechsel and Beckner welcomed their first child together, a boy, in December 2019.
In the hours since the complaint was published, Beckner deleted her public social media profiles and Drechsel made her Instagram account private.
Drechsel, who achieved the winning rope climb for Team USA in the American Ninja Warrior’ USA vs. the World’ in 2019, also participated in Team USA in 2020.