South Brunswick Man, Ex-Trenton Cop, Admits To Having Child Porn

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — A South Brunswick man who formerly worked as a police officer for the city of Trenton pleaded guilty Friday to possession of child pornography.

Paul Marinelli, 53, of South Brunswick, pleaded guilty Aug. 10 to third-degree possession of child pornography before Superior Court Judge Benjamin Bucca, Jr. in Middlesex County. Marinelli was arrested in an investigation by the New Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigations Unit.

Marinelli, pictured above, was suspended from the Trenton police force after his arrest last year. He must now forfeit his position on the police force as a result of Friday's guilty plea.

The investigation began when the state police received information that emails containing child pornography were located in an iCloud email account maintained by Marinelli. NJ state police executed a search warrant at Marinelli’s South Brunswick home and arrested him on Sept. 6, 2017, after an on-site preview revealed images of child pornography on a hard drive. Detectives seized computer equipment including three laptops and USB flash and thumb drives.

The equipment was taken to the New Jersey regional computer forensic laboratory, where a forensic examination revealed numerous images and three videos of child pornography on the computer devices. The investigation did not reveal any evidence of distribution of child pornography by Marinelli, New Jersey state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said.

Marinelli was among 79 child predators and child pornography offenders arrested in “Operation Safety Net,” a multi-agency child protection operation conducted in 2017 by the New Jersey Regional Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. Ten alleged “hands-on” offenders were arrested, including eight New Jersey men, as well as men in California and Indiana who allegedly tried to have children transported interstate from New Jersey for them to sexually assault.

Under the plea agreement, the AG will recommend that he be sentenced to 180 days in the county jail and a term of probation.

Marinelli was represented by David P. Schroth, Esq., of Ewing, N.J.

Photo of Marinelli released by the NJ Attorney General's office.