Horsham registered sex offender charged with child rape and child pornography offenses

A 24-year-old Montgomery County man who is a registered sex offender was charged this week with child molestation and felony counts of distributing child pornography through a social media platform.

Brian Grew of Horsham was quickly investigated and charged after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alerted Montgomery County detectives Wednesday morning about two videos that were uploaded to the social media platform Kik, the Montgomery County District Attorney said. The office said. The tip originally came from the platform.

Investigators traced the account to Gru, who lives with his mother, according to a police affidavit of probable cause for his arrest. Between September 12 and October 7, an account linked to Groo allegedly uploaded seven videos or images to Kik that allegedly contained child pornography.

Horsham police responded to a call at Grew’s home on Oct. 13 and spoke with him and his mother, according to the affidavit, investigators said. The affidavit did not provide details about that house call.

In 2021, Gru pleaded guilty to a 2019 charge of distributing child pornography and a related offense. He was sentenced to less than two years in prison and five years of probation and was required to register as a sex offender.

Groo’s probation officer told investigators he last visited Groo at his home on Tuesday, the affidavit said.

County detectives executed a search warrant at Grew’s home on Wednesday, the same day they first received the information.

Gru allegedly cooperated with detectives, gave them his “secret phone” and explained that he met a woman on Kik who shared with him a child sexual abuse video she claimed involved her daughter, and that Gru reciprocated, after sending the woman a video of sexually abusing a 10-month-old boy he had access to, the affidavit said.

Gru’s bail was set Thursday at just over $2 million. He was being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility and is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 14.