St. Louis County Sex Offender Sentenced to 10 Years for New Child Pornography Case

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Monday sentenced a St. Louis County, Missouri man who used fake social media accounts to bait people into sending him sexual images to 10 years in prison for possession of child pornography.

Christopher D. Gruebbel, then 37, pleaded guilty in February to one count of possession of child pornography and admitted being caught with child pornography by probation officers.

Gruebbel was on supervised release at the time because in 2013, he was sentenced to four years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography. Part of his sentence included a provision that after his release from prison, he would be 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. 

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.

An analysis of the devices also 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.

After his release from the new prison term, Gruebbel will be on supervised release for life.

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