New London police: Man charged after child lived in squalor conditions

NEW LONDON, CT (WFSB) – Police in New London arrested a man for abusing a child.

Michael Gregor, 42, is accused of assault and strangulation.

Authorities said it all stemmed from an investigation back in January.

Police were called to the house and found the child, who was hurt and malnourished.

They said the juvenile was living in squalor, inhumane conditions, and suffered abuse for a long time.

The child spent some time in the hospital and has recovered, police said.

Gregor lives in East Lyme and was held on a $750,000 bond.

The warrant for Gregor’s arrest revealed disturbing details about the conditions the 10-year-old boy was living in.

According to the warrant, a 38-year-old female victim told police she was being assaulted by Gregor, her boyfriend.

When officers went to the apartment to take Gregor into custody, they found the child in a room. The room had a deadbolt lock on the outside, and was empty. There was only a layer of plastic on the floor and a blanket, according to the court paperwork.

The child told the officers he was locked inside the room for hours and that he slept there, the paperwork said.

According to the warrant, the child had several bruises, was malnourished and had hair loss.

The child was walking with a limp. He told police he hadn’t showered in weeks, and had been wearing the same clothes.

He then told the officer of the first incident of abuse by Gregor. Gregor hit the boy repeatedly on the side of his head after the boy lied about taking food, according to the paperwork. This left the boy with an injury to his ear.

In the warrant, the boy is referred to as “JV Victim.”

“The JV Victim stated to Sgt. Benway he used to weigh around 90 pounds, but has lost a lot of weight,” the warrant said. “Responding Officers took photographs of the JV Victim and observed his skin was very brownish on his chest, neck and his back.”

The boy then showed police a small closet in the home. He told officers that in the past, he was locked inside the closet all day and only allowed to come out to go to the bathroom. He also told police he slept inside the closet for about a month, the warrant said.

“The JV Victim identified a black piece of cloth from a bath robe that he stated was used to tie him up,” the warrant said. “There were holes in the sheet rock at the base of the closet that the JV Victim said were caused my Gregor kicking him. The JV victim stated Gregor would kick him in his back repeatedly causing him to stop breathing and would just leave him in there.”

The boy also told officers Gregor hit him several times in the legs with a piece of wood.

He was taken to the hospital for his injuries. A doctor at Yale Children’s Hospital said the boy had multiple traumas throughout his body and a broken finger, the warrant said.

At a forensic interview, the boy talked about when the abuse began. It started when he moved in with his stepdad Gregor, his mother and two brothers.

According to the paperwork, the boy talked about being placed in a cabinet and being “hog tied.”

“The JV Victim described being ‘hog tied’ as when both his hands and feet were bound together to limit movement,” the warrant said. “The JV Victim stated he remembered when he was grabbed by the neck and hoisted into the air by Gregor, he believed he was going to die, because he could not breathe and passed out and his feet were uncontrollably kicking.”

The boy also said he would get beaten if he tried to eat food.

You can read Gregor’s arrest warrant below:

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