David P. Greulich, a 61-year-old resident of Cleveland, Ohio, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for crimes involving the sexual exploitation of a minor. U.S. District Judge David A. Ruiz handed down the sentence after Greulich pleaded guilty in March to several charges, including crossing state lines for illicit sexual conduct with a minor and possession of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM). Following his imprisonment, Greulich will be subject to lifetime supervised release and must pay special assessments totaling $35,000. The determination of restitution is pending.
Court documents reveal that in February 2024, Greulich began communicating with a 14-year-old girl from Jefferson County, New York, via Snapchat. After weeks of communication, he traveled over 400 miles from Ohio to New York on April 20, 2024, where he picked up the girl and took her to a hotel. There, he kept her for two days while subjecting her to violent and sexual abuse, which he recorded on a digital device. On May 11, 2024, Greulich made another trip across state lines to engage again in illicit conduct with the same victim. He documented these acts through videos and photographs which he emailed to himself.
A federal search warrant executed at Greulich’s Cleveland home led investigators to seize multiple electronic devices containing CSAM. This included more than 100 images of the victim alone and with Greulich on his cellphone and 14 sexually explicit video files stored in his personal cloud account.
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations’ Cleveland Office with support from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in New York, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Assistant United States Attorneys Margaret A. Kane and Segev Phillips prosecuted this case.
For reporting child exploitation cases or suspicions thereof, individuals are encouraged to visit cybertipline.org or call 1-800-843-5678 at any time.
