NORRISTOWN — A New Jersey man admitted he attempted to meet a person 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. John D. Grzyb, 53, of the unit block of North Maple Avenue, Marlton, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to felony charges of attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a minor and unlawful communication with a minor or a law enforcement officer posing as a minor in connection with incidents that occurred between June and July 2025. Judge Wendy G. Rothstein deferred sentencing until May so that court officials can complete a background investigation report about Grzyb, who will undergo a psychosexual evaluation. Grzyb faces a possible maximum sentence of 4 to 8 years in prison on the charges. Grzyb also faces an evaluation by the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board, which will determine if he meets the criteria to be classified as a sexually violent predator under state law. Those classified as predators face more stringent restrictions while on parole and probation, including mandatory counseling and community notification about their residency. Regardless of the sentence that Grzyb receives, he faces a lifetime requirement to report his address to state police to comply with the state’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act. Assistant District Attorney Erin Kathleen Russell is handling the case. Defense lawyer Elliot Marc Cohen represents Grzyb. 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 and expressed an interest in having sexual relations with what 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 the person 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 are slated to be dismissed against Grzyb atthe  time of sentencing. ...read more read less