A 35-year-old man was indicted Monday after posting nude videos of a New Canaan girl on a popular video-sharing service, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Brian Grinnell of Lakewood, Ohio, was charged Sept. 23 with distribution of child pornography, according to press release issued by the Connecticut District of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
According to court documents cited in the release, Grinnell in March “posed as a 15-year-old girl and met a female, who at the time was under the age of 12, on Omegle, an online chat website and mobile application that allows users to interact with strangers.“
“Shortly thereafter, he began communicating with the minor victim using the account name ‘alexisswimmer99’ on Snapchat,” it continued. “Grinnell told the minor victim to take sexually explicit photos and videos of herself and send them to Grinnell over Snapchat. After the minor victim began to feel threatened by alexisswimmer99, she unfriended and blocked the alexisswimmer99 account.”
Grinnell subsequently used the slightly modified username ‘alexisswimmer9’ “to contact a friend of the minor victim on TikTok and stated that unless the minor victim got in touch with him, he would post a video of the minor victim naked on TikTok,” the press release said.
“Grinnell then posted sexually explicit videos of the minor victim on TikTok. When a friend of the minor victim, who is also a minor, begged Grinnell not to post additional videos of the minor victim, Grinnell stated ‘I want a video of you begging me to not put them up. And you have to be topless in the video. If you don’t want any more of your friend stuff going out.’ After the friend told Grinnell that they would call the police, Grinnell responded ‘How are they gonna find me?’ ”
They did, though not before Grinnell posted another video of the minor victim on TikTok.
New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski was among those announcing that a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment charging him, the press release said.
Reached by NewCanaanite.com, Krolikowski stressed that the incident should serve as a warning about predators lurking on social media for innocent victims.
Grinnell faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, according to the DOJ.
Others announcing the indictment include U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut John H. Durham and FBI Special Agent David Sundberg.
Thank you to that minor and her friend for having the bravery to come forward. Think of the countless others they have saved by speaking up. Thank you too for reporting this.