A New Jersey man was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison for the deadly abuse of his 6-year-old son, whom he forced to run on a high-speed treadmill for reportedly being "too fat."
Christopher Gregor, 32, claimed in court that he "did nothing" to cause the death of Corey Micciolo, saying: "I did not hurt my son," the Asbury Park Press reported.
But those assertions were rejected by Superior Court Judge Guy Ryan, who cited harrowing surveillance video that showed Corey repeatedly stumble, fall and get thrown from the treadmill when he couldn't keep up.
At one point, Gregor lifted Corey off the floor and held him up as the boy desperately pumped his legs to match his pace to the speed of the machine in the gym of his father's apartment complex.
"Corey was subject to an awful time on that treadmill," Ryan said. "It was brutal watching that treadmill video."
Prosecutors reportedly said Gregor, who shared custody of Corey with the boy's mother, repeatedly increased the treadmill's speed and incline during the March 20, 2021, incident in Monroe Township.
Corey revealed during a medical exam that his father made him run on the machine "because he was too fat," the U.S. Sun reported in 2022 following Gregor's arrest.
The video was discovered after Corey died April 2, 2021, at a hospital where his father took him, claiming that the boy awakened from a nap and began stumbling and slurring his words, according to Court TV.
An autopsy found the cause of death was blunt force trauma to Corey's chest that lacerated his heart and liver, with prosecutors alleging that Gregor beat him when the boy's mother was 14 hours late to pick him up.
The defense contended during Gregor's six-week trial that the boy's injuries were the result of pneumonia or some other reason, according to the Asbury Park Press.
A jury acquitted Gregor of murder but convicted him of aggravated manslaughter for the fatal beating and child endangerment for the treadmill incident.
In court Friday, Breanna Micciolo reportedly lashed out at Gregor, who she said "took my whole world away from me."
"I hate you," Micciolo told Gregor. "I will never forgive you."
Her mother, Rebecca Micciolo, also recalled how, five days before his death, Corey asked her, "Does God see what my daddy does to me?"
When Rebecca Micciolo told Corey that "God sees everything," he responded by asking "why his Daddy isn't going to hell," she said.
"And I replied, 'He will one day,'" Rebecca Micciolo said.
