Drew Drechsel child sex charges: American Ninja Warrior legend arrested after relationship with 15-year-old
ST CLOUD, FLORIDA: American Ninja Warrior winner, Andrew "Drew" Drechsel, 31, has been arrested on child sex crime charges which include luring a girl for sex and manufacturing child pornography. The US Attorney's Office of the District of New Jersey had revealed in a press release that Drechsel aka "the Real Life Ninja" had been arrested at his home in St Cloud, Florida, on Tuesday, August 4.
According to documents obtained by Daily Mail, Drechsel had reportedly started a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl in New Jersey back in 2015. Drechsel had reportedly met the victim at an American Ninja Warrior contestant event where the two had exchanged numbers and had begun texting each other. He even arranged for the young girl to visit him at his gym, the Real Life Ninja Academy in Hamden, Connecticut, in 2015 as a birthday present for her. When the girl went to visit him at the gym, Drechsel and the girl had become intimate. The incident took place once his girlfriend, April Beckner, had left the premises. Prosecutors revealed how the two had sex after Drechsel laid out a mattress and a blanket behind a wall in his office.
The teenager had reported the incident to her mother on the same day, resulting in the mother confronting Drechsel. She says that he "did not deny the sexual activity, but rather stated he did not know her age at the time". The prosecutors pointed out how a few weeks later, Drechsel had made contact with the victim again and they discussed having a sexual relationship. The 31-year-old had also told the teen that the next time they met, there would not be "time to deal with [victim’s] shyness and timidity". The teen had told them that even though she was nervous, it would not happen again to which Drechsel replied saying, "PSH, we’ll see I guess." The girl told him that she would "be better" for him when they met next time.
The following January, Drechsel had messaged the girl again saying that he was traveling to New Jersey and wanted to set up another meeting to have sex. The teenager revealed how the two had sex many times from the time she was 15 to 17 years old. The complaint made by the teenager in 2019 to the police states that the two had also had many Skype sessions where Drechsel had instructed her to take her clothes off. He had also recorded her on his cell phone many times without her knowledge. The complaint reveals how photos and video footage of the girl were found by investigators on Drechsel's old cellphone. One of the images was taken when the teenager was just 14.
On Tuesday, Drechsel's lawyer, Frank Riccio, said that Drechsel is planning to plead not guilty. Riccio had said, "Mr Drechsel is presumed innocent of the charges and that presumption will remain throughout the pendency of his case." "He intends on entering a 'not guilty' plea. It is respectfully requested that you respect the privacy of Mr Drechsel and his family," Riccio added. The mother said that she did not take the matter to the police as the teenager had threatened to harm herself if she did so.
In December last year, Drechsel had welcomed a baby boy along with his girlfriend Beckner.