Man sentenced for explicit posts of New Canaan girl

HARTFORD — An Ohio man who posted explicit videos of a New Canaan minor on TikTok last year was sentenced to 10 years in prison, a federal judge ordered Tuesday afternoon.

The sentencing stems from an incident in March 2020 when Brian Grinnell, now 37, met an 11-year-old girl from New Canaan on an online chat website while he claimed to be a 15-year-old girl. He told the victim to send him sexually explicit videos of herself, authorities said.

When the victim started to feel threatened by Grinnell, she unfriended and blocked him on social media. He reached out to her friends, threatening to post the videos if she did not reach out to him. He later posted the sexually explicit videos to TikTok, according to court documents.

Grinnell was arrested Sept. 23, 2020, and has remained in custody. Investigators seized his iPhone and other items and found more than 80 images and videos of child pornography that weren’t just of the victim. Grinnell was not charged with the images and videos investigators found, Shea said Tuesday.

In April, Grinnell pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography.

U.S. Judge Michael Shea described the case as a “parent’s worse social media nightmare.”

He also called Grinnell’s conduct “despicable” and said he “tortured a child.”

Shea said the case involved “cruelty of a type and degree that I have not seen before in nine years on the bench,” and clarified he has sentenced cases involving murder and other serious offenses.

“There’s nothing in your background that would explain the lack of empathy and the cruelty that your conduct demonstrated in this case,” he said.

“It is hard to know, candidly, where this behavior came from,” Shea added. “I don’t believe it came from out of the blue.”

The judge said he would recommend for Grinnell to be sent to the Elkton Federal Correctional Institution in Lisbon, Ohio.

When Grinnell is released, and as part of his 15 years of supervised release, he will be required to comply with all sex offender registration requirements, participate in mental health treatment and the probation office will monitor all of his devices, Shea ordered.

Shea also ordered Grinnell to pay a $10,000 special assessment.

Grinnell first met the victim online through Omegle, an online website where strangers can chat, in March 2020. The two then started talking through Snapchat where he told her to send him the videos of herself.

When the victim unfriended and blocked Grinnell, he contacted some of her friends through TikTok, stating that unless the victim reached out to him, he would post a naked video of the victim on the social media app.

Grinnell posted the videos, according to federal officials.

In court Tuesday, the victim’s mother said the young girl’s friends defended her and were pleading with Grinnell not to post any more videos.

Grinnell told one friend, who was also a minor, that he wanted a video of her begging him not to put them up while topless, authorities said.

The friend also told Grinnell that they would call the police, to which Grinnell responded” “How are they gonna find me,” records show.

Later on, Grinnell shared additional videos of the victim with undercover officers and bragged about how many videos he had, federal officials said.

He also told an undercover officer that him and the victim “were going to be a thing” and “she broke my heart.”

After the videos were posted, the victim’s parents received a call from a parent stating that “something horrible was happening.”

The victim’s parents called their daughter downstairs to ask what was happening, and the victim told them “I think you need to call the police,” the victim’s mother said in court Tuesday.

In court through Zoom Tuesday, the victim’s mother called Grinnell’s actions “extremely calculated.”

“Grinnell victimized an entire group of special needs children, 11 years old themselves, by making them feel responsible for what happened to their friend and later for showing them the child pornography,” she said.

The victim’s mother, her voice shaking during the hearing Tuesday, said that for months she was worried her child would try to take her own life.

“She thinks about what happened every single day,” the mother said. “She walks around with an ever present sense of guilt and shame that has affected her sense of self, and her relationships with friends and adults.”

“Whether we like it or not, one day in the future, Mr. Grinnell will be released from his prison, but our daughter will have to live in her prison caused by his actions for the rest of her life,” the mother continued.

On Tuesday, Grinnell said he was “incredibly sorry” for what he had done.

“What I did was heinous and should never have happened,” he said. “I wish there was a way to go back and undo that awful action that I did so that all people that have been hurt wouldn’t have been. I’m disgusted in myself every day that I hurt someone. I hope that you are able to move on and recover from what I have done.”

Grinnell had no criminal history at the time of his arrest. His attorney, Matthew Popilowski, said Tuesday that Grinnell had a good upbringing. He also read a letter from Grinnell’s mother who stated he was always willing to help, hard-working and active in his son’s life.

Cases of child exploitation can be reported at www.cybertipline.com. Those who have suffered from sexual violence can speak to specialists for support, information, advice or a referral by calling the free and confidential National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673). Those who wish to chat online with trained specialists, which is also free and confidential, can also go to www.RAINN.org/Get-Help. Help is available 24/7