TOMS RIVER, NJ – A retired New Jersey State Trooper and former county detective at the Ocean County Prosecutor’s publicly accused the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and child protective services of failing to act on warnings about child abuse, including in the high-profile death of 6-year-old Corey Micciolo.
Speaking during a recent public meeting, Sean Nelson Boero, 61, of Manahawkin, claimed that both agencies had seen a video depicting Micciolo’s abuse on a treadmill a week before his death but did not intervene. Boero said the information came directly from Corey’s mother, who has spoken publicly about her son’s case and runs a “Justice for Corey” page.
“I’m a retired New Jersey State Trooper, and when I retired from the State Police, I worked here at Ocean County for five years building your digital forensic laboratory. I left after five years, because to me, they were ignoring the cyber tips, and it resulted in several children right here in Ocean County being abused for months. I brought this to your attention before. I hope you talked to Bradley Billhimer. But today I’m here for Corey Micciolo,” Boero said. “Last year, last summer, I was teaching for the State Department in Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, you can Google it on a map, beautiful, wonderful people, but as part of the forensic training I was given, we were watching that trial on TV. Fascinating trial. But that horrible treadmill video, I
think we’ll all recall, apparently the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and Division of Child Protective Services saw that video a week before Corey died and didn’t do anything. “
Micciolo’s death and the trial that followed drew national attention, with video evidence becoming a central point in court proceedings. Boero alleged that the defense attorney may not have been informed that prosecutors had viewed the video before the boy’s death.
Boero also accused the Prosecutor’s Office of routinely neglecting cyber tips involving sexual abuse of prepubescent children in Ocean County, claiming that some sat for months or more than a year while children continued to be abused in multiple states. He said his frustration with the office’s inaction on such cases led him to resign five years ago.
He urged Ocean County officials to press Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer to address what he described as systemic failures in handling child abuse cases, both physical and digital.
The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office has not yet publicly commented in response to Boerlo’s allegations.
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Key Points
- Former detective alleges prosecutors and child services failed to act on abuse video before 6-year-old Corey Micciolo’s death.
- Claims cyber tips on child sexual abuse have been ignored for months or more.
- Calls for Ocean County Prosecutor to address alleged systemic failures.
