Hawkeye Reporter

Andrew Gross, a 42-year-old resident of Sioux City, Iowa, pleaded guilty on September 11, 2025, in federal court to possessing child pornography. According to information presented at the plea hearing, Gross admitted that from April 1 to May 14, 2024, he received and possessed child pornography.

The investigation began after Sioux City Police were contacted by the parents of a 15-year-old who reported sexually explicit conversations between their child and Gross. Authorities determined that Gross and the minor had exchanged sexually explicit messages and photographs. Further evidence showed that Gross possessed additional images and videos of child pornography. It was also noted that in 2021, Gross had been convicted in Minnesota for offenses related to aggravated sexual abuse involving a minor.

Gross is currently held by the United States Marshal as he awaits sentencing before United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. Sentencing will be scheduled after completion of a presentence report. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in prison with a possible maximum of twenty years, up to $250,000 in fines, and at least five years of supervised release following imprisonment.

"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.  Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.  For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”"