Registered Sex Offender Pleads Guilty to Receiving Child Pornography

A Lancaster man and registered level two sex offender has pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography, a charge that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 40 years, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.

Alexander Grupp, 32, entered the plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Franz M. Wright, Grupp had previously been convicted in 2018 in New York State Court of possessing obscene sexual performance by a child under the age of 16. As part of that conviction, he was sentenced to 10 years of probation.

Prosecutors said that in October 2022, Grupp communicated with a 15-year-old girl through the instant messaging platform Discord, where he persuaded the minor to send him nude images.

In 2019, Grupp was registered as a sex offender after being convicted of two counts of possessing a sexual performance of a child less than 16 years of age.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, led by Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia.

A sentencing date has not yet been set.