A former South Plainfield police captain was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for exploiting a minor girl by enticing her to live-stream sexually explicit acts via the Internet in exchange for payment, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Michael Grennier, 52, of South Plainfield, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson to an information charging him with one count of production of child pornography.
Grennier was charged by complaint on Feb. 19, 2013, and has been in custody since that date. Judge Wolfson imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
On Feb. 14, 2013, Grennier enticed a girl to perform sexually explicit acts and stream images of herself over the Internet while he watched remotely from his home computer. During the webcam session, Grennier exchanged text messages with the minor in which he directed her actions. Grennier admitted during his guilty plea proceeding that he promised to buy his victim clothing in exchange for her performance.
At the time of his arrest, Grennier was working for a private computer forensics firm. Prior to his retirement, he was a computer forensics specialist for the South Plainfield Police Department.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Wolfson sentenced Grennier to serve lifetime supervised release. Restitution will be determined at a later date. Grennier will also be required to register as a sex offender.