A retired 25-year veteran and former police captain of the South Plainfield police admitted today to enticing a minor girl into streaming sexually explicit acts over the Internet as he watched from his computer, authorities said.

Michael Grennier, 51, of South Plainfield, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson in Trenton federal court to production of child pornography, authorities said. Grennier faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 30 years in prison at his sentencing scheduled for Feb. 19, authorities said.

His attorney could not be immediately reached today for comment.

Grennier, twice honored as South Plainfield’s Officer Of The Year, was considered for an international police award and was credited with aiding in the takedown of a global hacker's collective in the 1980s, according to a local South Plainfield newspaper.

Federal authorities, citing documents and evidence in this case and court statements, said today that on Feb. 14, Grennier enticed a girl to perform sexually explicit acts and live-stream images of herself over the Internet as he watched remotely from his home.

During the webcam session, authorities added, Grennier exchanged text messages with the girl while directing her actions.

Grennier admitted during his guilty plea hearing that he promised to buy the girl clothing in exchange for the sexual performance.

According to the complaint filed earlier this year against Grennier, the former captain paid a minor girl for years to engage in the sexual acts on the Internet. The complaint also alleged he paid for pictures of the girl naked, and on one occasion gave her and a second victim $500 to engage in sex acts in a hotel room. Grennier allegedly watched the encounter on a webcam, the complaint said.

Grennier was regarded inside the department as the man who brought the agency into the age of technology, and outside as a coach and member of a well-known family, neighbors and South Plainfield officials have said.

At the time of his February arrest, Grennier was working for a private computer forensics firm, federal authorities said today. They also noted that before retiring, he was a computer forensics specialist for the South Plainfield police.

Anesh also noted then that Grennier worked mostly on the department's computer software and kept to himself.

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