Iowa Teen Kraigen Grooms Rapes 1-Year-Old, Live Streams Crime Online, Is Sentenced To Probation, Not Prison [Video]


Iowa teen Kraigen Grooms recorded himself raping a 1-year-old baby girl two years ago. Grooms was 16-years-old at the time of the April 2013 sexual assault of the toddler and was 17 when he was arrested for his crime in 2014. In addition to perpetuating the unthinkable sex crime against the child and recording his act, Iowa teen Kraigen Grooms also reportedly shared the rape of the 1-year-old girl in a live streaming video.

As My San Antonio reports, the video of Iowa teen Kraigen Grooms sexually assaulting the baby, identified only as an African-American child between 12 and 18 months of age, appeared on an underground child porn website. Authorities were able to get an image of Grooms’ face from the video, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shared a press release begging the public for their help in identifying the child rapist seen in the graphic, heartbreaking video.

Reportedly, Kraigen Grooms was arrested within 30 hours of the March 17, 2014, ICE press release. Grooms was allegedly caught up in the ICE “Operation Predator” program, which was created to identify and prosecute child sex offenders and traffickers. Multiple reports indicate that many of the tips used to identify and subsequently arrest the Iowa teen came from his own friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR1YaonKG7w

Because of his age, the Iowa teen was not originally publicly identified as the suspect in the horrific case of child rape caught on camera. Despite not being publicly outed by the feds, however, Kraigen Grooms would find himself spending the next two years sitting in the Wapello County Jail awaiting trial while prosecutors built a case against him. He was charged with a class B felony, child abuse in the second degree. The maximum possible sentence for the crime committed by Iowa teen Kraigen Grooms was twenty-five years in prison.

However, as KTVO reports, Iowa teen Kraigen Grooms would never face a trial. Instead, prosecutors gave the child rapist, who recorded and broadcast himself sexually assaulting a 1-year-old baby girl, the opportunity to plead to a lesser charge in the case. In July, now-19-year-old Kraigen Grooms pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in a lascivious act with a child. His sentence was nowhere close to the 25 years in prison he was originally facing.

Indeed, Judge Randy Degeest decided that despite being caught on film raping a toddler, Iowa teen Kraigen Grooms should be spared the horror of facing any prison time at all. Grooms was sentenced to five years of supervised probation in addition to a 10-year suspended incarceration sentence. This means that as long as Iowa teen Kraigen Grooms doesn’t violate the terms of his probation, he won’t see the inside of a prison cell again for his crime.

The federal agents who originally arrested the Iowa teen for his recorded crime against the small child have unequivocally stated that Kraigen Grooms recorded himself raping a 1-year-old baby girl. According to an Iowa prosecutor, however, Grooms did not “actually rape” the child.

Raw Story reports that Iowa teen Kraigen Grooms admitted to raping the child during the recorded sex act in question. Investigators working the case of the Iowa teen have also indicated that they believe that the Grooms deliberately targeted his victim, and the rape of the baby was premeditated. They also allege that Kraigen Grooms had already set his sights on his next victim, a 3-year-old-boy, at the time of his capture.

Despite the reprehensible nature of the crime committed by Kraigen Grooms, the teen has gotten inexplicable support and consideration from multiple people in the aftermath of his sexual assault on the little girl. Even Tim Caya, who operates the organization, LocateTheMissing, and who has been largely credited with getting Kraigen Grooms identified and arrested, appeared to have some sympathy for the Iowa teen turned sex offender.

“It’s sad, he is such a young kid. Usually when you hear about this, it is old guys. It makes you wonder what was going on in his life to get him to this. I’m glad I helped catch him, but it makes you wonder about what is going on these days with kids doing this at such a young age.”

My San Antonio also reports that the Iowa prosecutor had plenty of sympathy for Kraigen Grooms, claiming that the teen had been “duped” into committing the repulsive crime.

The parents of the Grooms’ young victim also reportedly asked the prosecution in the case not to sentence their daughter’s attacker to prison, something that reportedly influenced the sentencing process in the case.

Kraigen Grooms was reportedly released from his pretrial incarceration after his sentencing. One consolation for those disgusted by the exceedingly light sentence handed down to Iowa teen Kraigen Grooms is that he will have to register as a sex offender and will be legally required to remain on the sex offender registry for the rest of his life.

[Featured Image by Wapello County Jail]

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