A Union County grand jury has returned a fourteen-count indictment against the co-founder of a Summit-based robotics laboratory charged with sexual crimes against six students,
Union County Prosecutor William A. Daniel and Summit Police Department Acting Chief Steven Zagorski jointly announced Thursday. Christopher P. Marbaix, 60, is charged with five counts of second-degree sexual assault of a child under the age of 13, six counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, and three counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact with a child.
These charges are the result of a joint investigation by members of the Summit Police Department’s Juvenile Detective Unit and the Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Victims Unit, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Bryan Tiscia, who is prosecuting the case.
The investigation revealed that on multiple occasions from September 2015 through December 2018, Marbaix allegedly inappropriately touched the six victims while they were under his personal instruction at Robot Revolution, when they were between the ages of 9 and 15.
Since filing charges against Marbaix in November of 2020, further information led investigators to file six additional charges in January of 2022 in connection with three new victims, bringing the total alleged victim count from three to six and the total charges against Marbaix from eight to fourteen.
Robot Revolution’s website describes the program as the largest robotics school in the state, having given instruction to more than 3,000 students since opening nine years ago.
“Children endeavoring to learn should be able to so safely, and the alleged actions of this defendant impacted that right,” said Prosecutor Daniel.
“The law enforcement agencies of Union County are dedicated to protecting the children of our community and the continued work during this joint investigation between the Prosecutor’s Office and the Summit Police Department is a testament to that commitment.”
“This indictment is the result of diligent work and a coordinated effort between the Summit Police Department and the Union County Prosecutor’s Office,” explains Acting Summit Police Chief Steven Zagorski.
“Working together, we were able to identify additional victims and bring forward stronger charges to secure this action.”
Anyone with information regarding Marbaix’s activities is still urged to contact Summit Police Department Captain Ryan Peters at 908-277-9380.
Convictions on second-degree criminal offenses are commonly punishable by 5 to 10 years in state prison.
These criminal charges are mere accusations. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.