Timothy T. Duax U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa
Fred Grell, a 64-year-old resident of Angleton, Texas, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison after pleading guilty to receipt of child pornography. The sentencing took place on March 5, 2026, in Sioux City federal court.
According to evidence presented during the plea and sentencing hearings, Grell received and possessed child pornography between March 1, 2022, and September 19, 2023. The investigation began after law enforcement received a report about a missing runaway foster child on June 24, 2023. In July of that year, Grell dropped off a minor victim at the Ida County Sheriff’s Office but left without speaking to deputies.
Further investigation into Grell led authorities to search his phone records. They found two videos and six pictures containing child pornography involving the minor victim. The victim told officers that Grell sexually assaulted her and that they had intercourse multiple times in his semi-truck and home before and after her sixteenth birthday. She also reported that Grell would call her regularly and instructed her not to use text messages to avoid detection by law enforcement.
"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 the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.usdoj.gov/pscLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the 'external link' icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link.. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/pscLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the 'external link' icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. and click on the tab 'resources.'"
United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand sentenced Grell to 96 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. Federal inmates are not eligible for parole. In addition to imprisonment, Grell was ordered to pay $10,000 in fines and assessments intended for victims of child pornography offenses. He remains in custody awaiting transfer to a federal prison.
