Princeton Alum Charged With Having Child Sexual Abuse Material

PRINCETON, NJ — A well-involved Princeton University alumni Roy D. Farmer was arrested and charged with possession of child sexual abuse material.

53-year-old Farmer, a 1993 graduate of Princeton University, was arrested on Friday following a search of his home, according to Mercer County Prosecutor's Office spokesperson Casey DeBlasio.

In January 2024, detectives with the prosecutor’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit got a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an individual in Mercer County uploaded an item that portrayed child sexual abuse material.

An investigation was launched and Farmer was identified as a subject.

On March 22, members of the Mercer County Tactical Response Team, with help from the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations Trenton, executed a search warrant at Farmer's apartment in Princeton, where detectives seized multiple items of evidentiary value, said DeBlasio.

Farmer was taken into custody without incident. He is charged with one count of third-degree possession of child sexual abuse material.

The prosecutor’s office filed a motion to detain Farmer pending trial. A detention hearing that was initially scheduled on March 27 was adjourned until next week.

According to a Princeton University Alumni spotlight, Farmer has been chair of the Committee on Regional Associations (CORA); board member of Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS); president of the Princeton Club of Southwest Florida; vice president of the Bisexual, Transgender, Gay and Lesbian Alumni organization (Princeton BTGALA); president of the Princeton University Glee Club Foundation, and co-chair of the upcoming 150th anniversary celebration of the Princeton University Glee Club.

Farmer also owned and managed "arts festivals around the world, including the StayInMay Festival in Naples, Florida, an interdisciplinary arts festival that includes art, culinary, rock and pop, dance, jazz, health and wellness, classical music, and a film festival. In the last nine years, the festival has hosted more than 300 concerts and exhibitions for more than 150,000 attendees," according to the spotlight.

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