Who is Christopher Gregor? The New Jersey father who allegedly tortured son with gym sessions and is now on trial for his murder

A New Jersey father accused of abusing his son to death only met the child a year before allegedly torturing him on a treadmill and causing his death. 

Christopher Gregor, 31, a former crisis hotline worker and nursing home carer, is standing trial over the 2021 murder of his son Corey Micciolo, 6, who prosecutors say was abused for months before he died from blunt force trauma.

Amid outrage over footage shown in court this week showing Gregor force Corey to run and fall from a treadmill, archived text messages from the boy's mother allege to show him coldly brushing off his treatment of the child. 

After she texted him about how he 'hurt (Corey's) feelings', Gregor responded: 'Maybe he needs to be a little tougher because that's soft tissue.' 

Christopher Gregor, 31, is facing murder charges over the 2021 death of his six-year-old son. Prosecutors claim he abused the boy to death and would routinely beat and humiliate him 

The initial autopsy revealed that Corey died as a result of blunt force injuries across his body, alongside cardiac and liver contusions with inflammation and sepsis 

Archived text messages alleged to be between Corey's mother and Christopher showed a callous response to being told he made his son cry 

In the alleged texts, Christopher said his son was being 'overemotional' and he 'needs to be a little tougher' 

Corey's mother shared sickening images of the abuse she claims was inflicted by the father, including black eyes and bruises across his body 

It is unclear when Gregor and Corey's mother Breanna Micciolo - who testified at his trial this week - first met, however he was reportedly not in the boy's life until he reached five-years-old. 

On their first meeting, Corey allegedly returned home to his mother with a 'busted lip', reports Jersey Shore Online. 

Micciolo didn't believe Gregor's excuse that he accidentally kicked their son while playing soccer, but said a DCPP caseworker accepted it and didn't investigate. 

For over a year after that first meeting, she claims that Corey was routinely abused by Gregor, and reportedly suspected the father was using as treadmill as a punishment tool during their visitations. 

During that time, his LinkedIn profile says he worked as a realtor and math teacher, with his past work experience also including volunteering at mental health hotline Crisis Text Line for six months in 2015. 

Before his arrest, Gregor lived at a sprawling New Jersey estate valued at over $1 million, online records show.  

Micciolo set up a Facebook group after Corey's death in April 2021 called 'Justice for Corey', where she shared harrowing pictures of Corey's injuries while claiming child protective services ignored her pleas for help.  

In text messages Micciolo shared to the Facebook group around six months after Corey's death, Gregor was seen coldly responding to being told he made his son cry. 

Corey's mother Breanna Micciolo was the first to take the stand as a witness in court on this week, where she broke down in tears while detailing the alleged abuse 

Corey Micciolo, died in 2021 after years of alleged abuse, with a forensic pathologist ruling he died due to blunt force trauma 

Micciolo claims despite showing a trove of images and videos of her son's injuries, her reports were routinely brushed off by child protective services 

Corey would allegedly often return from his father's home with new bruises and injuries 

Before his arrest, Gregor lived at a sprawling New Jersey estate valued at over $1 million, online records show

'Corey came upstairs upset and almost crying because he was trying to ask you about playing football in high school and you smacked the ball out of his hand and walked out,' Micciolo texted him. 

'Well that's a lie, I smacked the ball out of his hand and he didn't say a word to me,' Gregor responded, adding that he 'did it as a joke and said bye.' 

He continued: 'Tell him if you wanted to ask me a question standing there and say nothing is not the way to ask.' 

Gregor said that if hitting the ball out of the six-year-old's hand 'makes him cry, that maybe he needs to be a little tougher because that's soft tissue.' 

After he said he thought Corey was being 'overemotional', Micciolo responded: 'He's not emotional you hurt his feelings he got upset he's six years old.' 

Micciolo claims that child protective services consistently brushed off her reports over her son's alleged abuse. She and Gregor were locked in a bitter custody dispute at the time. 

In sickening images posted to her Facebook group, the mother shared pictures of various bruises, scratches and scrapes across the boy's body, including on his forehead and down his arms. 

'Corey had those CLEAR signs of abuse many many times all different incidents,' she captioned the post. 'Is it the policy that is wrong or is it just them not following it?' 

Gregor, a realtor, previously worked as a math teacher, staffer in a nursing home, and for a mental health hotline 

In sickening CCTV video shown in Gregor's ongoing trial, Corey was seen continuously falling off the treadmill, while Gregor keeps lifting him up and putting him back on the machine 

The alleged abuse ended on April 2, 2021, hours after Macciolo dropped Corey off at his father's home, when the child reportedly woke up from a nap with nausea and was dazed. 

He died hours later in hospital, with a forensic pathologist ruling Corey's cause of death to be blunt force trauma. Gregor's attorney claimed he actually died from pneumonia.  

One instance of alleged abuse was shown this week at Gregor's trial, where surveillance footage showed the father appearing to force his son to sprint on a treadmill. 

In the CCTV video, Corey is seen continuously falling off the treadmill, while Gregor keeps lifting him up and putting him back on it.

Gregor is seen at one point appearing to bite his son on the back of the head before forcing him to run again. 

In opening statements, Gregor's attorney Mario Gallucci admitted the jury were 'going to be horrified' when they saw the footage, but argued it did not contribute to Corey's death.

'You're going to be mortified,' he warned. '(But) Corey’s death had absolutely nothing to do with that treadmill.'

Gregor, 31, was initially charged with child abuse, before the charges were escalated to murder almost a year after his son's death 

Days after the gym visit, the boy's mother Breanna Micciolo, who shared custody of Corey with Gregor, saw her son's injuries and reported them to a caseworker with the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency 

In emotional testimony this week, Micciolo said she immediately noticed bruises and scratches on her son after the trip to the gym, as she claims to have done after numerous other visits. 

'He had a bruise on his forehead, it was very odd-shaped, it looked like an impression,' said the mother through tears.

She added that he also had other cuts on his body, including one on his chest that 'looked like a scrape.'

A pediatrician examined the injuries, and although they said the mother should not be concerned, she testified that Corey told the doctor that he was forced to run on the treadmill 'because he was too fat.'

Micciolo also reported the injuries to a caseworker with the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency, with Corey's death coming just one day after courts rejected an emergency filing seeking custody of her son.

She previously warned authorities as far back as July 2020 that her son would return from his father's home with black eyes, bruises, scrapes and even 'bite marks.'

Gregor was arrested three months later on charges of child neglect, with his arrest warrant noting the gym surveillance video as a reason for the arrest.

'Specifically by having (Corey) run on a treadmill and increasing the speed, causing (Corey) to fall, placing (him) back on the moving treadmill while appearing to bite his head, causing the said child to fall several more times,' the warrant read.

In September, a forensic pathologist ruled that Corey's cause of death was homicide due to chronic child abuse, including blunt force injuries to his abdomen and chest, and a laceration to his heart.

It was also found that the boy suffered cardiac and liver contusions with inflammation and sepsis.

Although Gregor is reportedly claiming his son died due to pneumonia, it is unclear if any medical staff found this to be the case in hospital, where Corey also suffered a seizure during a CT scan.

On March 9, 2022, almost a year after his son's death, Gregor's charges were increased to murder.