TOMS RIVER – Christopher Gregor, the father of a boy whose death is being investigated, has been released from the Ocean County Jail until his hearing in September.
Gregor faces up to ten years in prison for a second degree child endangerment charge for an incident that occurred on March 20, 2021. He shared custody of his then six-year-old son Corey Micciolo with the boy’s mother, Breanna Micciolo.
There is video of Gregor placing the boy on a treadmill in the gym of the complex where he lived in Barnegat. Police who reviewed the video said it shows the suspect speeding up the treadmill, causing the boy to fall. He then puts Corey back on a few times as the boy kept falling off. Court papers also refer to Gregor biting Corey on the head during the incident.
Corey died suddenly on April 2, 2021, at the Southern Ocean County Medical Center. The medical examiner listed the official cause of death as a contusion to the heart, the boy’s mother said.
The Ocean County Prosecutor has not charged Gregor or anyone else in connection with the death, which remains under investigation.
Breanna and others seeking for “Justice for Corey” appeared at the Ocean County Courthouse during the detention hearing to rally against Gregor’s release.
Even after Superior Court Judge Wendel E. Daniels announced that Gregor would be let out of jail with conditions, the mother and her supporters stayed on – hoping to display their signs as the accused left from confinement.
Senior Assistant Prosecutor Christine Lento requested that Gregor remain in custody despite his low score on a Public Safety Assessment, which evaluated risk factors associated with his release.
Lento argued that the proofs as far as endangerment spoke for themselves and negated the defendant’s release on his recognizance. She suggested that anyone who would harm a child as documented in the video represented a risk to the community.
Gregor’s private attorney, Mario Gallucci, said that his client had both an undergraduate degree and master’s degree from John Hopkins. He had little prior involvement with law enforcement and no outstanding warrants.
The judge listened to counsel for the state and Gregor, while referencing the surveillance video used to show probable cause for the father’s arrest.
Gallucci told the judge that he was retained by Gregor on April 3, 2021, the day after his son’s death. No reference was made to Gregor leaving the state to go to Tennessee, which his attorney previously indicated was not an attempt to flee.
Instead, Gallucci said that Gregor voluntarily surrendered to the Barnegat Police Department as arranged by his attorney.
Judge Daniels referenced the surveillance video in making his decision regarding Gregor’s release. He termed Gregor’s behavior “despicable and injurious.”
Despite his observations, Daniels found himself bound by the law and cited a New Jersey Supreme Court case to explain his ruling. He also shared other factors contributing to his decision.
As part of his release from pre-detention, Gregor is held to what the judge called Level III conditions. He is forbidden to have unsupervised contact with minors and must communicate regularly with the court system.
Gregor was ordered to appear in court before Judge Baxter on September 15, 2021.
“I’m worried that he’s now going to come after me,” said Breanna, as she wiped away tears. “Look at how he treated Corey.”
The child’s mother continues to maintain that the State Division of Child Protection and Permanency failed her son and has scheduled a rally in front of their Toms River offices, 1510 Hooper Avenue, on Friday, July 30 at 9:30 a.m. A Facebook page entitled Justice for Corey now has almost 10,000 followers.
