Trial Date Set For Duke Droese On Sexual Exploitation of a Minor Charge

A trial date has been set in the criminal case against WWE alumnus Duke Droese on charges of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor. As reported, Droese (real name Mike Droese) was indicted in May of 2025 on a charge of Attempted Aggravated Sexual Exploitation of a Minor after he allegedly used a Coinbase account to try and purchase child pornography online. PWInsider reports that a judge in Warren County, Tennessee has set a trial date of March 18th, 2027 for the case.

Droese has been given until January 27th, 2027 to make any potential plea deal with prosecutors in order to avoid trial. It’s not clear if any such plea deal is in the works.

A press release at the time of Droese’ arrest noted that:

On April 21, 2024, Michael Droese used his Coinbase account to attempt to purchase child sexual assault material (child pornography) from the Dark Web. The transaction was flagged and terminated prior to the purchase being completed.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation initially received the tip from Coinbase regarding Mr. Droese’s attempted purchase of child sexual assault material. It is largely unknown what actions the FBI took to initially investigate this matter. However, on March 19, 2025, Investigator Jason Walker with the Warren County Sheriff’s Department first received a tip from the FBI regarding Mr. Droese’s alleged criminal conduct. Investigator Walker immediately forwarded the information to me. March 19, 2025 also marks the first date any local or state law enforcement official had any knowledge of Mr. Droese’s alleged criminal conduct.”

If convicted, Duke Droese faces a possible sentence of two to four years.