Image courtesy of Montco DA
Brian Groo, 24, is accused of raping a 10-month-old boy.
The Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele announced today the arrest of Brian Groo, 24, of Horsham, who was charged with multiple felonies including the Rape of a Child, as well as charges related to creating and disseminating child sexual abuse material (child porn).
Steele said that on the morning of Oct. 30, Montgomery County Detectives received a cybertip from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), regarding two videos of “apparent child sexual abuse material, including a video of the sexual abuse of an infant boy that
had been uploaded and shared via the online messaging platform Kik.”
According to the criminal complaint, the cybertip started on 2:24 p.m. on Sept. 12, 2024, and was ongoing through Oct. 7, 2024 around 3:43 p.m. During this time span, police said that Groo “uploaded seven files of suspected images or videos of child exploitation material” from his home IP address.
According to the press release from the DA, the cybertip indicated that “the video of the boy appeared to be newly produced and/or homemade content,” which concerned authorities, as it likely meant that a child might be subjected to ongoing or additional sexual assaults.
The investigation by NCMEC, County Detectives, and Homeland Security traced the username “Zenshadowsol” that shared the videos to other online accounts and then traced an IP address to the defendant’s residence on Maple Avenue in Horsham Township. Also noted in the cybertip, one of the comments Groo made with his account in Reddit, noted “dm me I’m in Horsham,” helping them to narrow the search, reports said. The post also had a title of “M4F in Horsham area #pa,” police said.
Police said that they were able to locate a Facebook account for Groo, which listed him as having attended Abington High School and living in Willow Grove.
This was not Groo’s first brush with the law. In November of 2019, Groo was charged with two felony counts including Dissemination of photo or fil of child sex acts and the criminal use of a communication facility.
North Penn Now covered the incidents here. View that additional coverage here:
At that time, Groo was to register as a Tier II sex offender for 25 years and undergo both a psycho-sexual evaluation and a sexually violent predator assessment, according to court records. Additionally, Groo was required to forfeit his cellphone and is prohibited from unsupervised internet usage and unsupervised contact with minors.
In 2019, a total of 165 other felony charges, including additional counts of disseminating child pornography and criminal use of a communication facility — along with dozens of counts of possession of child pornography — were dropped in exchange for the plea.
As a result of the investigation at that time, Groo was arrested Nov. 22, 2019 and charged with 100 felony counts of possession of child pornography, 65 felony counts of disseminating child pornography and two felony counts of criminal use of a communications facility.
Groo was sentenced in April 2021 for six to 23 months in county jail, followed by a five-year probationary period. Court records show he was given another three to 18 months in county jail on March 20, 2023 for violating probation.
On Oct. 30, detectives served a search warrant on the defendant’s residence and recovered a hidden cellphone belonging to Groo, Steele said in the release, which had the Kik application installed on the phone and was the email address associated with the uploads in the cybertip. The video involving the infant boy was determined to be of a 10-month-old baby that the defendant had access to, said Steele.
Groo was arrested and charged with 11 felony counts of Rape of a Child, Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse, Indecent Assault, Unlawful Contact with a Minor, Endangering the Welfare of Children, Photograph/Film/Depict on Computer Sex Act–Child, Disseminate Photo/Film of Child Sex Acts, two counts of child pornography, corruption of minors, criminal use of a communication facility, and one misdemeanor count of possession of the instrument of a crime.
He was arraigned on Oct. 31, before Magisterial District Judge Karen Eisner Zucker, who set bail at $2,000,077 cash. Groo was remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 11:45 a.m., Nov. 14, before Magisterial District Judge Todd Stephens.
The case will be prosecuted by Assistant Chief of Trials Lauren Marvel.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
