A father who tortured his six-year-old son by forcing him to run excessively on a treadmill has sparked an uproar after being sentenced to 25 years in jail for the boy’s death.
Corey Micciolo died in 2021 after months of beatings and abuse at the hands of his 32-year-old father Christopher Gregor.
On Friday, Corey’s family pleaded with New Jersey Judge Guy P Ryan to hand down the harshest sentence possible for the crime.
His mother, Breanna Micciolo, fought back tears as she called for justice for her son and described the “irreparable harm” Gregor had inflicted on him.
“He doesn’t feel any remorse for any of the acts he committed. What he feels is that he was caught and convicted,” Micciolo told the court.
“Everything he did to Corey was out of spite towards me. Another reason is that he is mentally ill and used Corey as his punching bag. He never had an ounce of love for Corey, he was just an inconvenience in his life.
“I can’t even imagine what my son went through behind closed doors with this man.”
Facing the prospect of up to 40 years behind bars, Gregor sobbed as he listened to Corey’s family detail the impact of the loss on their lives.
Judge Ryan sentenced him to 20 years for aggravated murder and five years for child endangerment, to be served consecutively.
He said it was “not legally sustainable” to impose maximum sentences that, if handed down, would likely be overturned on appeal.
During the emotional hearing, Corey’s mother described being “haunted” by the memory of dropping her son off at Gregor’s house for the last time.
“Despite what he did, Corey still loved him,” Micciolo sobbed before addressing Gregor directly.
“He looked up to you,” she added. “I wanted him to feel like a real father. Instead of being a good role model for Corey, he decided to beat him to death.
Micciolo died on April 2, 2021, after complaining of nausea and difficulty breathing. He suffered several seizures upon arrival at the hospital and died an hour later.
The case drew national interest after a video emerged of Gregor forcing the six-year-old boy to run on a treadmill, even picking him up and placing him back on the machine after he fell.
Corey’s mother, Breanna Micciolo, sobbed as she described the devastating impact of losing her son.
“I hate you, I will never forgive you. I will never get my son back. My family will never feel empty again. My daughter will never be able to meet my brother. You took my whole world away from me.”
Gregor was convicted at a four-week trial in which jurors were shown surveillance footage showing him increasing the speed and incline of a treadmill, causing Corey to fall several times.
The boy died weeks later, and Gregor’s legal team insists he died of an infection even though medical experts determined he suffered blunt force trauma.
“I never wanted to see that video,” Micciolo sobbed as she recalled having to sit through the clip as part of the trial.
The jury rejected the murder charge but instead convicted him of a lesser charge of aggravated murder, which carries a sentence of 10 to 30 years behind bars.
Gregor had originally only been charged with child endangerment in connection with the surveillance video.
It wasn’t until nearly a year after his son’s death that he was formally charged with murder after the medical examiner initially ruled the death undetermined.
According to the Ashbury Park Press, the autopsy report was later amended to rule the death a homicide.
Corey’s grandmother, Rebecca Micciolo, asked the court to give Gregor the maximum sentence.
Gregor reacts as the jury reads the guilty verdict for aggravated murder on Friday
Corey’s mother, Breanna Micciolo, cried when Gregor was found guilty of aggravated murder of her son.
Defense attorney Mario Gallucci had argued that he died of natural causes, specifically a “rapidly spreading infection,” and previously claimed he suffered from pneumonia.
But his allegations contrast sharply with the testimony of a forensic pathologist who spoke on the fifth day of the trial.
According to Dr. Thomas Andrew, Corey died from blunt force trauma to the chest and abdomen, with a laceration to the heart. Andrew testified that the cause of death was homicide.
On the morning of April 2, 2021, Micciolo dropped Corey off at Gregor’s house. It would be the last time he would see his son alive.
The woman told police she last heard from Gregor that afternoon, when he told her he was taking Corey to the hospital, but did not mention which one.
The boy had complained of nausea and shortness of breath, according to a probable cause affidavit. He went into seizures shortly after arriving at Southern Ocean Medical Center and died about an hour later.
Surveillance footage captured nurses and a doctor appearing to comfort Gregor as he slumped in a chair outside his son’s hospital room.
But he left 27 minutes before Corey died, a fact noted by prosecutors, before fleeing and being picked up by police in Alcoa, Tennessee, two days after Corey’s death.
Corey’s mother shared sickening images on social media of the abuse she says was inflicted on him by his father, including black eyes and bruises all over his body.
She said she reported Gregor to the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency more than 100 times over an 18-month period, but nothing was done. She has since sued the agency for failing to act.
Micciolo’s request for emergency custody of her son was denied the day before Corey’s death on the advice of DCCP, even though at least one social worker viewed the treadmill video and photographed injuries on Corey’s body.
“He was a young child who deserved his father’s protection, not abuse,” Judge Ryan said in his summing up.
He rejected the defense’s argument that Gregor, a former star athlete, was just trying to toughen up his son, calling it “unreasonable and inaccurate.”
“The defendant is motivated by anger, he took advantage of someone who was unable to resist, someone who is very young,” Ryan added. “Someone who does that, who has that disposition, is likely to reoffend.”
He stipulated that Gregor must serve at least 17 years in prison before being eligible for parole on his murder charge.