Summit Robot Lab Founder Indicted For Sex Crimes Against Students

SUMMIT, NJ — The co-founder of a Summit-based robotics laboratory, Robot Revolution, was indicted on sexual crimes against six students who attended classes at his lab.

A Union County grand jury returned a fourteen-count indictment against co-founder Christopher Marbaix, Prosecutor William A. Daniel and Summit Police Department Acting Chief Steven Zagorski jointly announced Thursday.

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 endagering the welfare of a child and three counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact with a child.

The investigation — conducted by the Summit Police's Juvenile Detective Union and Prosecutor's Office's Special Victims Unit — revealed that Marbaix allegedly inappropriately touched six victims while they were under his personal instruction at Robot Revolution when they were between the ages of 9 and 15.

This occurred on multiple occasions from Sept. 2015 through Dec. 2018.

Marbaix faced charges in Nov. of 2020, but further information led investigators to file six additional charges this month in connection with three new victims. This brings the total alleged number of victims from three to six and the total charges against Marbaix from eight to fourteen.

Robot Revolution describes itself on its website as the largest robotics school in NJ, haven given instruction to more than 3,000 students since opening 9 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.”

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.

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