A 24-year-old Montgomery County man and registered sex offender charged with child rape
A search warrant was executed at 24-year-old Brian Groo's home in Horsham the same day detectives received a tip, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/5WCZQ4ORRNDL5PYJHCVXTVCZBI.jpg)
A 24-year-old Montgomery County man who is a registered sex offender was charged this week with child rape and offenses related to sharing child pornography through a social media platform, authorities said.
Brian Groo of Horsham was swiftly investigated and charged after a tip was sent Wednesday morning from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children to Montgomery County detectives regarding two videos that had been uploaded to the social media platform Kik, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office said. The tip originally came from the platform.
Investigators traced the account to Groo, who lives with his mother, according to the police affidavit of probable cause for his arrest. From Sept. 12 through Oct. 7, an account associated with Groo allegedly uploaded seven videos or images of suspected child porn to Kik.
Investigators noted that on Oct. 13, Horsham Township police responded to a domestic disturbance call at Groo’s home and spoke with him and his mother, the affidavit states. The affidavit does not provide details about that domestic disturbance call.
In 2021, Groo pleaded guilty to a 2019 charge of disseminating child pornography and a related offense. He was sentenced to less than two years in prison and five years’ probation and was required to register as a sex offender.
Groo’s probation officer told investigators that he last visited Groo at his home on Tuesday, the affidavit states.
County detectives executed a search warrant at Groo’s home on Wednesday, the day they received the tip.
Groo allegedly cooperated with detectives, gave them his “secret phone,” and explained that he had met a woman on Kik who shared with him a child sex-abuse video that she claimed involved her daughter, and that Groo reciprocated by sending the woman a sex-abuse video of a 10-month-old boy he had access to, the affidavit states.
Bail for Groo was set on Thursday at slightly more than $2 million. He was being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility and has a court appearance scheduled for Nov. 14.