A Pennsylvania “bizarre collector” has avoided prison after admitting to buying stolen bodies from Harvard Medical School and another mortuary in Arkansas and selling them on Facebook.
Jeremy Pauley, 42, of Thompson, was sentenced to two years’ probation for abuse of a corpse, Fox 43 reported.
After he pleaded guilty to the charges on January 8, prosecutors filed additional charges against him, including one count of dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activity and two counts of receiving stolen property, WGAL reported. The charges were dropped.
Pauley pled guilty in September 2023 to federal charges of conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen property, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced in a press release.
Harvard Medical School morgue director and others charged with selling stolen human remains
Jeremy Pauley, 42, of Thompson, will serve two years’ probation on charges of abandoning a corpse. (East Pennsboro Police Department)
At the time, Pauley “admitted his role in a nationwide network of individuals who bought and sold human remains,” the office said.
Polley purchased body parts from Cedric Lodge, a former manager of the Harvard Medical School Morgue, from cadavers donated for medical research before their scheduled cremations, the U.S. attorney’s office wrote.
According to the agency, managers had customers come to the morgue and select the parts they wanted.
Pennsylvania man pleads guilty to stealing human body parts from Harvard Medical School
Polley also allegedly obtained the remains from Candice Chapman Scott, an employee of a Little Rock mortuary. Scott stole parts of the body that had been taxed for cremation and intended to sell them to Pauley, the U.S. attorney’s office wrote.
At one point, Scott sent Polley a photo of the heart and other organs on Facebook Messenger, and Polley responded that she was interested in the brain and heart, according to court records.
Polley was arrested and charged in 2022 by East Pennsboro Township Police for his role in the group, Fox 43 reported.
Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts (Sergi Rebolledo/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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Police first went to Pauley’s Enola home after a tipster reported suspicious activity there, according to court documents. According to the complaint, the man told police he collected “strange things” and had 15 to 20 legally purchased human skulls in his possession.
The following month, police returned to Polley’s home after a caller reported finding buckets of “human skin” and “human organs” in Polley’s basement, according to the complaint cited by Fox 43.
Police executed a search warrant and found three five-gallon buckets filled with human remains, according to the complaint.
District Attorney Sean M. McCormack called the case “one of the strangest investigations” he had handled in his 33 years as a prosecutor. “Just when you think you’ve seen it all, something like this happens,” McCormack told FOX 43.
The FBI later accused three other people of trafficking in stolen body parts, including Mr. Lodge’s wife, Denise Lodge, Katrina McLean of Salem, Massachusetts, and Joshua Taylor of Pennsylvania. was arrested.
Gordon Hall, Harvard Medical School, Boston, November 12, 2015. (Pat Greenhouse/Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Dennis Lodge has pleaded guilty to interstate transport of a stolen body, WBUR reports. She now faces 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
According to the newspaper, Cedric Lodge has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. It is unclear whether his wife will testify against him.
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Also last month, a judge dismissed a class action lawsuit against Harvard University by families affected by human trafficking, according to the Harvard Crimson.
In a statement titled “Abominable Betrayal,” Harvard Medical School said of the incident:
“We are appalled to learn that something so alarming could occur on our campus, a community dedicated to healing and serving others,” the statement read in part.
