‘American Ninja Warrior’ Winner Gets 10 Years in Prison for Child Pornography and Exploitation

A Connecticut man who rose to fame as the winner of “American Ninja Warrior” was sentenced Thursday in New Jersey to 10 years in prison for child exploitation, authorities said.

Andrew Drechsel will also have to serve 15 years of supervised release after his prison sentence is completed and will have to pay the victim $100,000 in restitution, according to a statement from Philip Sellinger, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.

The sentencing comes a year after Drechsel, 35, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and inciting travel for illicit sexual conduct.

According to court documents, Drechsel was living in Connecticut when he met the 14-year-old victim, from New Jersey, after an “American Ninja Warrior” event in 2014. He was in his 20s at the time.

The couple then exchanged text messages before he convinced the victim to drive across state lines in July 2015. Drechsel later admitted they had sex at a gym he owned in Hamden.

They stayed in touch and continued to see each other through 2019, with the girl sometimes traveling to Connecticut and Drechsel to New Jersey on other occasions.

After the victim filed a complaint with police later that year, law enforcement officers searched one of Drechsel’s phones and found images of child sexual abuse, including photos and videos of the victim when she was 14 and 15, according to court documents.

He was arrested and charged in August 2020.

Before his arrest, Drechsel gained fame on reality television as a contestant on eight seasons of “American Ninja Warrior,” which sees competitors test their strength and endurance in a series of challenging obstacle courses.

Dreschsel won season 11 of the hit NBC series and served as a mentor on “American Ninja Warrior Junior,” a spinoff show aimed at children ages 9 to 14.

Following the accusations, NBC announced it would sever all ties with Dreschsel, leading to the removal of older seasons from the network’s Peacock streaming service, as well as the re-release of “American Ninja Warrior 12.”

With News Wire Services