St. Louis County Sex Offender Admits Online 'Baiting,' Child Pornography Possession

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County, Missouri on Monday admitted possessing child pornography and using a fake social media profile to bait people into sending him sexual images and videos.

Christopher D. Gruebbel, 37, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography.

In 2013, Gruebbel was sentenced to four years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography. After his release from prison, he was placed on supervised release for life.

On multiple occasions in 2021, Gruebbel’s probation officer was unable to find him at his approved residence, later learning that Gruebbel had been evicted and was living with his mother without permission.

Probation officers then discovered that Gruebbel was in possession of multiple electronic devices without permission, including a laptop, a cell phone, an iPad and an iPod,.

An analysis of the devices showed that Gruebbel was using fake social media accounts and posing as a young female named “Hannah” to bait people into sending nude pictures and videos of themselves, his plea agreement says. Gruebbel also participated in chat rooms devoted to “baiting” others into providing sexual images.

A total of 50 images and 14 videos containing child pornography were found on the iPad, as well as 251 images and 117 videos that contained exploitative and/or suspected child pornography on Gruebbel’s electronic devices.

Gruebbel is scheduled to be sentenced in the new case May 16. The possession of child pornography charge to which Gruebbel pleaded guilty carries a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years and is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Probation Office and the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.