Prominent Ivy League LGBTQ activist, 53, is arrested on child porn charges at his home near Princeton University
- Roy “Trey” Farmer, 53, was arrested Friday at his home across from Princeton University in New Jersey
- The LGBTQ activist with degrees from Harvard, Yale and Princeton is president of Princeton’s Queer Alumni Association
- But he faces up to five years in prison if convicted of downloading child pornography
An LGBTQ activist with top degrees from Harvard, Yale and Princeton faces up to five years in prison on charges of downloading child pornography.
Roy “Trey” Farmer, 53, was arrested Friday at his home across from the gates of Princeton, New Jersey, after a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)
The former ‘piano prodigy’ sits on the board of the New York Philharmonic and is president of Queer Princeton Alumni, but his details have since been removed from their website.
He is a successful banker and entrepreneur, former president of the Harvard Glee Club and has served on the boards of orchestras and opera companies around the world.
He is also chairman of Florida’s StayInMay Festival, which has hosted more than 300 events in Naples over the past decade.
Roy “Trey” Farmer, 53, has earned top degrees from three Ivy League universities, including Harvard and Yale, and is president of Queer Princeton Alumni
The president of the Princeton University Glee Club Foundation cut the cake at the annual alumni sing-along in New York City in February of this year
But he was arrested Friday and charged with downloading child pornography
The NCMEC alerted detectives from the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) unit in January that child sexual abuse material had been downloaded in Mercer County, where Princeton is located.
On Friday, the Mercer County Tactical Response Team, with assistance from the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations, Trenton searched Farmer’s Princeton apartment and seized “several items of evidentiary value,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Farmer was arrested without a fight and was held in the Mercer County Jail on Wednesday pending a detention hearing.
After earning a degree in philosophy from Princeton in 1993, he went on to earn an M.Phil from Yale University and a master’s degree in educational administration from Harvard.
He got a job in private equity before founding a boutique investment bank during 15 years living in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
But he has remained a pillar of the Princeton establishment, with seats on the boards of numerous societies.
“Good things happen when you bring Princetonians together,” he told an interviewer two years ago.
‘There are wonderfully generous interactions from like-minded people who want to give their time to volunteer, and they are all so passionate about it.
‘This is not traditional networking. This is about connecting interesting people who do interesting things in all areas of our society.’
He previously served on the boards of the Classic Chamber Concerts, the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Naples Music Club and the Opera Naples.
The banker and festival organizer spoke to guests at Queer Princeton Alumni Day in February
He was arrested at his apartment at the university gate after police received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
And he was instrumental in keeping the Princeton alumni communities together with a series of podcasts from his home off campus.
“For me, Princeton has always been about the people,” he said.
‘Alumni and students constantly challenge me and inspire me in new ways.
“The things I’ve done in my life and career all stem from the things I was exposed to at Princeton.”