Former Hamden resident and 2019 “American Ninja Warrior” champion Andrew Drechsel has been charged with numerous child sex crimes.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey announced Tuesday afternoon that Drechsel, 31 and now living in Florida, had been arrested earlier in the day. Drechsel has been charged with attempting to have sex with a minor and manufacturing child pornography, according to the criminal complaint.
The charges stem from incidents between January 2015 and April 2016. The female victim told law enforcement that she met Drechsel when she was 14, at an event attended by a number of contestants on “American Ninja Warrior.