German National Sentenced To 121 Months In Prison For Enticement And Sexual Abuse Of A Minor

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that THOMAS ALEXANDER BRANDENSTEIN, a German national, was sentenced today to 121 months in prison by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in connection with BRANDENSTEIN's enticement of a 15-year old minor victim (the "Minor Victim") to engage in sexual activity, and then traveling across state lines in order to engage in illicit sexual activity with the Minor Victim in 2023. On September 8, 2025, BRANDENSTEIN pled guilty to one count of enticement of a minor before U.S. Magistrate Judge Valerie Figueredo.

"Brandenstein twice traveled from Germany to New York to entice a minor victim-over forty years his junior-to engage in illegal sexual acts," said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. "Thanks to the extraordinary investigative work of our law enforcement partners at HSI and NYPD, Brandenstein was apprehended before he could prey on other innocent victims. Sexual abuse of children can cause severe trauma, often lasting into victims' adulthood or their entire lives. This needs to stop. New Yorkers want law enforcement to do everything we can to prevent underage abuse, and we will. Today's sentence underscores our commitment to prosecuting those who engage in predatory sexual behavior with our city's children."

According to the Indictment, other public court documents, and statements made during court proceedings:

From March 2023 through September 2023, BRANDENSTEIN, a German national, enticed a 15-year-old boy residing in New York (the "Minor Victim") to engage in illegal sexual activity. While in Germany, BRANDENSTEIN, who was 57-years-old at the time, used internet-enabled messaging applications to send sexually explicit communications to the Minor Victim, including an image of a naked male in which the male's penis was exposed. BRANDENSTEIN also sent sexually explicit videos to the Minor Victim, which depicted BRANDENSTEIN lying in bed, blowing kisses, and exposing his penis and masturbating, among other things. BRANDENSTEIN further communicated with the Minor Victim over these messaging applications about his plans to travel to New York with his spouse and co-defendant JOHN-PHILIPP PIEHL-BRANDENSTEIN, who is also a German national, and sent the Minor Victim a video message depicting the two men on an airplane and writing, "next stop, New York."

In June 2023, BRANDENSTEIN and PIEHL-BRANDENSTEIN traveled from Germany to the United States. In July 2023, they arrived in New York, where they met with the Minor Victim to engage in illegal sexual activity at a Manhattan hotel (the "Hotel"). BRANDENSTEIN and PIEHL-BRANDENSTEIN reserved a room at the Hotel from July 5, 2023 until July 13, 2023. BRANDENSTEIN brought the Minor Victim to the Hotel where BRANDENSTEIN and PIEHL-BRANDENSTEIN engaged in illegal sexual activity with the Minor Victim. Some of that illegal sexual activity was video recorded by BRANDENSTEIN. On July 13, 2023, BRANDENSTEIN and PIEHL-BRANDENSTEIN departed from New York and returned to Germany.

Following the July 2023 trip, BRANDENSTEIN continued to maintain consistent contact with the Minor Victim through frequent video calls, some of which involved sharing sexually explicit conduct. Several images recovered from BRANDENSTEIN's phone, which was seized incident to his arrest, depict stills of those video calls.

In September 2023, BRANDENSTEIN returned to the United States for the purpose of engaging in additional sex acts with the Minor Victim. The defendant made a reservation at a hotel in Brooklyn where he directed the Minor Victim to meet him. On September 29, 2023, the defendant flew from Berlin to Queens, New York. The defendant was arrested upon arriving at the airport.

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In addition to the prison sentence, BRANDENSTEIN, 59, of Berlin, Germany, was sentenced to five years of supervised release.

Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative efforts of Homeland Security Investigations and the New York City Police Department.

The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office's Civil Rights and Human Trafficking Unit in the Criminal Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitzi S. Steiner is in charge of the prosecution.