Former Trenton police officer sentenced to life in prison on nine child sex charges

After the sentencing Wednesday afternoon, Howard told Greene he would have plenty of time in prison to think about his crimes, what the judge called “absolutely disgusting.”

Greene was sentenced to life in prison on two counts of rape and 60 months in prison on all of the other seven counts, Howard said. Greene was credited with 59 days served. He will have to register as a Tier III sexual offender the rest of his life after he gets out of prison.

Since Greene is 67 and in poor health, Howard called it “a death sentence.”

Two of the female victims, who Greene knows, addressed the court and talked about how the sexual assaults impacted their lives.

One young woman said the actions “scarred me for life,” but now the “truth set me free.”

Another victim called the sexual assaults one of her “biggest secrets.”

Then she added: “I’m finally free. Thank you for setting that little girl free.”

Howard asked Greene, who has said he was innocent, if he wanted to address the court and he said, “No sir.”

The courtroom was tense as those who supported Greene sat in the front row and those who were there for the victims sat in the third row. There were five Butler County Sheriff’s Deputies in the courtroom, and after the sentencing, two of them escorted Greene’s supporters out of the courthouse.

Greene was indicted in February 2021 on two counts of rape, one involving a victim younger than 13 and the other involved a victim younger than 10, and seven counts of gross sexual imposition for the assault of three victims.

The child rape charges carry a mandatory life sentence, according to Assistant Prosecutor Lindsay Sheehan. The sentence for the rape of a child under the age of 10 is life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years and for a child under 13 years of age, life in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years.

Some of the crimes happened while Greene was employed as a police officer, according to the indictment.

Greene was a Trenton police officer from 1978 to 2008 and he retired as a sergeant, according to city officials. He worked as a part-time corrections officer at the Butler County Sheriff’s Office from October 2008 to August 2009 before being laid off.