Fred Grell, Receipt of Child Pornography, Iowa 2026

A Texas man has been sentenced to 8 years in federal prison for receiving and possessing child pornography in Iowa.

Fred Grell, 64, from Angleton, Texas, was sentenced on March 5, 2026, to 96 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty on October 17, 2025, to receipt of child pornography, in federal court in Sioux City.

Evidence at the plea and sentencing hearings showed that between about March 1, 2022, and September 19, 2023, Grell received and possessed child pornography. On June 24, 2023, law enforcement received a report of a missing runaway foster child.

In July 2023, Grell dropped a minor victim off at the Ida County Sheriff’s Office and left the scene without contacting deputies. During further investigation of Grell regarding this incident, a search of Grell’s phone records revealed two videos and six pictures of child pornography of the minor victim.

The minor victim told officers Grell sexually assaulted her, that they had intercourse multiple times in Grell’s semi-truck and home before and after the minor victim’s sixteenth birthday. The victim also told law enforcement that Grell would routinely call her and told her to ‘keep things off texts’ to avoid detection and thwart later investigations.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand sentenced Grell to 96 months’ imprisonment and a 5-year term of supervised release following imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. Grell was also ordered to pay $10,000 in fines and assessments to support victims of child pornography offenses.

Fred Grell, 64, remains in custody of the United States Marshal until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was investigated by the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office and Ida County Sheriff’s Office and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kraig R. Hamit.

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