CINCINNATI — A 60-year-old man was arrested in Cincinnati and charged with distributing more than 100 child pornography videos in 2020 and 2021 as a member of the Telegram online chat group 'The Playground Lives,' according to a federal criminal complaint filed in Los Angeles.
Phil Drechsler, 60, was a former WCPO investigative producer and photographer from 2003 through 2012. He was most recently living in the Los Angeles area.
Drechsler was arrested in Cincinnati on Thursday and is being held in the Butler County jail, according to the current inmate roster.
According to the criminal complaint filed on April 18, Drechsler interacted with the online chat group 145 times from Aug. 17, 2020 through June 28, 2021.
"Drechsler shared 117 videos, 9 images, 2 gifs, and 1 link to shared file(s)," according to an FBI affidavit attached to the complaint.
Drechsler posted videos that appeared to show a "prepubescent or early pubescent girl" in explicit sex acts with a man, according to the affidavit.
In the affidavit, the FBI agent wrote that Drechsler "commented about 16 times" in the online group The Playground Lives.
According to the affidavit, Drechsler used an alias in the online groups.
On April 6, federal agents executed two search warrants; one for Drechsler's Los Angeles home and the other for his person, according to the affidavit.
According to the affidavit, an FBI agent examined Drechsler's personal cellphone for evidence and found what appeared to be child pornography in the recently deleted folder. The agent wrote that he showed some of the images to Drechsler.
"Drechsler stated that he could not tell the age of the individuals and did not think it was child pornography," the agent wrote in the affidavit. "I asked him if the individuals looked like adults or children and DRECHSLER confirmed that they looked like children."
On April 17, Drechsler's wife told the FBI her husband had driven to Ohio with his shotgun and two pistols, according to the affidavit.
She said that Drechsler told her he "had nothing to live for" and that he wanted to "kill himself," according to the affidavit. But first, she said, he wanted to say goodbye to his daughter who lived in Ohio and visit his parents' gravesite in Toledo.
According to the affidavit, Drechsler's wife told the FBI that he was staying at the Wingate Hotel in Cincinnati.
Federal agents conducted surveillance on the hotel, according to the affidavit.
The Butler County jail inmate roster shows he was arrested on Thursday and booked into the jail about an hour later.
Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have filed a request to detain Drechsler.
Watch Live:
