SUMMIT — A 60-year-old man who co-founded a Summit robotics lab for children has been accused of molesting six children while he instructed them.
Christopher P. Marbaix was initially arrested in November 2020, at which point he had already been removed from his position at Robot Revolution, according to a statement previously issued to Patch.
A Union County grand jury has returned a 14-count indictment against Marbaix, charged with sexual crimes against six students, Union County Prosecutor William Daniel announced Thursday.
He 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.
According to a joint investigation by the Summit Police Department’s Juvenile Detective Unit and the Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Victims Unit, Marbaix inappropriately touched the victims, all between the ages of 9 and 15, while they were under his personal instruction at Robot Revolution on multiple occasions from September 2015 through December 2018.
Robot Revolution (Google Maps)
Between the time of Marbaix’s arrest and now, investigators filed six additional charges in connection with three new victims.
“Children endeavoring to learn should be able to so safely, and the alleged actions of this defendant impacted that right,” Daniel said in a written release.
“Robot Revolution took an immediate and proactive approach to these events in 2018,” according to a statement made to Patch in November 2020, which said Marbaix was an ex-partner who had not been with the company for two years.
Remaining partner, Davin Czukoski worked with his wife to reinvent the program and added strict policies and procedures as well as numerous safety measures, the same report said.
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.
Anyone with information regarding Marbaix’s activities has been urged to contact Summit Police Department Captain Ryan Peters at 908-277-9380.
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