Robert Grimmett, 25, of South Point, Ohio, was sentenced on July 29 in U.S. District Court to 360 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for creating child pornography involving the sexual abuse of a toddler.
“Thanks to swift work and international coordination by our HSI colleagues, this defendant—who posed an active threat to a toddler—was in handcuffs in a matter of hours,” said U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II. “I am grateful to the agents of HSI and to our prosecution team for saving this child from further abuse at the hands of Grimmett, who will now serve 30 years behind bars.”
According to court documents, on May 28, 2025, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Netherlands received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding newly produced child sexual abuse materials. Account data for the Kik application used to distribute the material led investigators to Grimmett. His Facebook photos also confirmed his identity as the same individual featured in the materials.
Within one day of receiving the cyber tip, HSI Cincinnati obtained and executed a search warrant at Grimmett’s home, where he was subsequently arrested. Grimmett pleaded guilty in September 2025.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II and Jared Murphey, Acting Special Agent in Charge with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Detroit division. Executive Assistant United States Attorney Christy L. Muncy is representing the United States in this case.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 that coordinates federal, state, and local resources to locate and prosecute individuals exploiting children online.