Andrew Drechsel, former American Ninja Warrior champion, gets 10 years in prison for child pornography

A former “American Ninja Warrior” champion has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for child exploitation after having a years-long sexual relationship with a teenage girl.

Andrew Drechsel, 35, will also have to serve 15 years of supervised release and pay the victim $100,000 in restitution, U.S. District Chief Judge Renée M. Bumb in New Jersey ruled Wednesday.

Drechsel, who earned $1 million on the hit show and appeared on eight seasons, pleaded guilty June 1 to receiving child pornography and knowingly enticing and coercing a minor to travel between States to have sex, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey announced.

The victim, a New Jersey resident who came forward in 2019, claimed they met and exchanged phone numbers at a 2014 parkour event attended by several “American” contestants. Ninja Warrior” when she was just 14 years old, according to a criminal complaint.

Dreschel was 26 at the time.

For her 15th birthday in 2015, Drechsel invited the girl to his gym in his then-hometown of Hamden, Connecticut, where the two had sex after his girlfriend left the facility, the victim told police.

Over the next two years, they remained in contact. The victim told authorities that she and Drechsel had sexual relations on several occasions in New Jersey when she was between the ages of 15 and 17.

On November 8, 2019, police searched one of Drechsel’s phones and found images of child sexual abuse, including photos and videos of the victim.

Dreschel, who recently lived in Florida, won season 11 of “American Ninja Warrior.” After his arrest, NBC announced that it would cut all ties with the athlete.