NORRISTOWN — Saying he presents a danger to minors, a judge sent a New Jersey man to prison for attempting to meet who he believed was a teenage girl for sex in Lower Merion Township, but unbeknownst to him he was communicating online with an undercover police officer.
“Your intent was to target a minor. You wanted the plan to go through. You do pose a risk to the public, specifically minors,” Montgomery County Judge Wendy G. Rothstein addressed John D. Grzyb as she sentenced him in to 4 to 8 years in prison on charges of attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a minor and unlawful communication with a minor in connection with incidents that occurred between June and July 2025.
Rothstein rejected a defense lawyer’s request that Grzyb be given leniency in the form of a county jail term.
The sentence handed down by the judge was in the standard range of state sentencing guidelines for the charges.
“There has to be consequences,” said Rothstein, adding if it had not been an undercover police officer with whom Grzyb was communicating, “you could have traumatized a minor.”
Grzyb, 53, of Marlton, who pleaded guilty to the charges, apologized for his conduct and maintained he suffered from a sex addiction for some 30 years.
“I understand the seriousness of this crime I committed. I get it. I do. I’m truly sorry for this. I take responsibility for this,” said Grzyb, adding it’s “unthinkable” what he was attempting to do. “I’m truly appreciative that I was stopped (by police) last July.”
John Grzyb (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. – MediaNews Group)
Grzyb said his conduct came at a high cost as he lost his marriage, a relationship with his daughter and a lucrative job in digital marketing.
“I was a very lucky man. I had a great marriage. I had a great job. But I’ve made some mistakes that I can’t undo. I’ve done a lot of damage and I recognize that,” said Grzyb, adding since his arrest he sought therapy and counseling to overcome his sex addiction.
Testimony revealed Grzyb told presentence interviewers that he battled a sex addiction since he was in his 20s.
Assistant District Attorney Erin Kathleen Russell, who sought the 4 to 8 year prison term for Grzyb, argued he had decades to deal with what he claimed was a sex addiction and neglected to do so until he was caught.
“He is the epitome of the reason why people are afraid of allowing their children on the internet. He is the predator that parents are afraid of,” Russell argued. “We’re extremely lucky that the person on the other end of the conversation was a police officer and not a teenager.”
Arguing for a mitigated county jail sentence for Grzyb, defense lawyer Elliot Marc Cohen said Grzyb “did not try to minimize his culpability” while speaking with presentence interviewers and has been seeking treatment from a psychiatrist and psychologist.
“He’s doing everything in his power to prevent this from being a problem in the future,” said Cohen, adding Grzyb’s world collapsed around him after his arrest, referring to the breakup of his marriage and his unemployment. “He’s ashamed for what he’s done.”
Grzyb was supported in court by his parents and sisters and a fellow member of Sexual Recovery Anonymous, described as a 12 step program for people battling a sex addiction. Grzyb’s supporters told the judge he is committed to his recovery and “working tirelessly to change.”
In addition to the prison term, Grzyb faces a lifetime requirement to report his address to police once he is paroled in order to comply with the state’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act, previously known as Megan’s Law.
John Grzyb is escorted by a deputy sheriff from a Montgomery County courtroom with a 4 to 8 year prison sentence. (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. – MediaNews Group)
Grzyb was arrested as part of an investigation of the sexual exploitation of children on the internet, conducted by undercover Pennsylvania State Police troopers.
On June 17, 2025, an undercover trooper posing as a 15 year old girl began an online chat with a man, subsequently identified as Grzyb, on a social media platform, according to a criminal complaint filed by state police Trooper Dante Poole, who is assigned to the computer crime unit.
During the chats, Grzyb claimed to be 45-years-old and after being made aware he was communicating with a 15 year old girl he said he liked “meeting up with girls” for “naughty fun,” according to the arrest affidavit.
Grzyb went on to discuss various sexual acts with explicit language and expressed an interest in having sexual relations with who he believed was a teenage girl.
Over the course of several days, Grzyb sent nude photos of himself and pornographic videos to the undercover trooper and the conversations included trying to schedule a time and location to meet, according to court documents.
Eventually, Grzyb agreed to meet who he believed was the teenage girl on July 10 at an apartment he believed the girl was staying in the unit block of Belmont Avenue in the Bala Cynwyd section of Lower Merion.
When Grzyb arrived at the location at 9:34 a.m. he was taken into custody by state police. At that time, Grzyb was found carrying a paper bag that contained condoms and a sex toy, according to the arrest affidavit.
Other charges of attempted statutory sexual assault, criminal use of a communication facility, attempted indecent assault of a minor and attempted corruption of a minor were dismissed against Grzyb at time of sentencing.