A Marion County resident, Shawn Adampeter Grunther, has pleaded guilty to attempting to entice a minor for sexual activity. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe. Grunther, 42, could face a minimum of 10 years and up to life in federal prison. The sentencing date has not been scheduled.
Court documents state that in July 2025, an agent from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) posed online as a 14-year-old girl. After discovering the supposed age of the individual he was communicating with, Grunther engaged in sexually explicit conversations. He was arrested on July 24, 2025, after traveling within Marion County with the intent to meet the undercover agent for sexual activity.
The investigation involved both Homeland Security Investigations and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Janette Swartzberg is prosecuting the case.
"This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc," according to information provided by authorities.
