(WWJ) — FBI agents have arrested a Howell man who worked with the University of Michigan women’s soccer team for allegedly soliciting at least one high school student for sex online and photographing underage athletes at sporting events.
Jacob Kromberg, 26, was named in a federal criminal complaint filed Thursday that alleges he coerced and enticed a minor and received and possessed child pornography.
Kromberg had been the director of operations and a sports scientist for the Michigan women’s soccer team. His biography page on the Michigan athletics website has been removed.
Kromberg is also listed as the freshman boy's soccer coach at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School.
He was scheduled to appear in federal court Thursday afternoon.
The university is not named in the complaint and the school has not commented on Kromberg's arrest, as of Thursday afternoon.
A 14-year-old student-athlete reported to his coach this February that he was “being solicited online for sexual activities” via Snapchat, according to the criminal complaint. The teen told the coach that Kromberg had traveled to his school sporting events and took pictures of him while he was “partially undressed.”
Kromberg allegedly later sent the pictures to the victim via Snapchat and asked “to engage in oral sex with him for money.” The complaint alleges Kromberg used multiple Snapchat display names to conduct the solicitation.
The teen took pictures and screenshots of the conversation with the suspect, including a partial facial image of Kromberg that was sent to him, which he believed to be the suspect. That image was later “circulated to coaches for awareness.”
Several days later at a school sporting event, a coach “had a face-to face encounter with an individual he recognized as the suspect” and followed him to the parking lot, where he saw him get into a white Ford Fusion, according to the complaint. The coach took a picture of the car and license plate and later sent it to the police.
Authorities determined it was registered to a 56-year-old man with a home address in Howell, where Kromberg also lived.
Investigators learned the suspect, using a Snapchat display name of “Max” (username “max.smi34”), had sent the teen messages such as “Do u want ur d*** sucked. I’ll give u money if u wany.” The teen replied “No.”
Authorities then sent legal orders to Snapchat to get account records for the user, which showed “numerous images of adolescent and teenage male student athletes with their shirts off at various sporting events who appeared to be unaware that someone was taking their picture,” according to the complaint.
Each of the boys appeared to be aged approximately 12-17 years old.
Further investigation revealed “numerous conversations” in which Kromberg “appeared to solicit and entice other Snapchat users, seemingly minors, into meeting for sexual encounters.”
The complaint includes messages a sample of these messages each sent to various Snapchat users on March 6, 2024:
“I go to kids wrestling meets to take pics of em shirtless”
“I'm looking for young boys 11-16”
“I love to suck on teen boys”
“Added u to my collection of young teen boys”
The complaint includes other disturbing messages.
The FBI searched Kromberg’s home and vehicle on Wednesday. Authorities seized several items, including an external hard drive in his bedroom that included “multiple images depicting child pornography in a subfolder” that appeared to be saved from his Snapchat. The complaint says one graphic image showed a naked male teen.
The complaint concludes by saying “based on the aforementioned facts, there is probable cause to believe” that Kromberg committed multiple crimes, including coercion and enticement of a minor, receipt of child pornography, and possession of child pornography.