No media allowed when jury visits where Creato boy found

CAMDEN, N.J. (WTXF/AP) - The judge in David Creato's murder trial has banned the media from covering a jury visit to the site where his 3-year-old son Brendan's body was found in 2015.

That site, in the woods by the Cooper River, was turned into a memorial for the young boy. It had to be dismantled because Creato's lawyer was concerned it could influence the jury -- mostly women -- when prosecutors have them make the 6/10 of a mile walk there.

The judicial order to the media cited no reason for the ban. Cameras are allowed in court.

Creato, 23, is charged with murder and child endangerment in the death of his son.

Tuesday, the police officer who found the young boy testified her canine partner alerted her to the child's body in a creek. Delaware River Port Authority Officer Constance Nicholson became emotional as she recounted how hopeful she'd been that the boy would be found alive.

Last Thursday, during opening statements, the prosecution told jurors the Haddon Township man was consumed with jealousy when his son's body was found.

Then, the boy's mother testified she secretly recorded Creato suggesting maybe "a spirit" had drawn their son to the woods in the dead of night.

And, Creato's lawyer told jurors Creato's relationship was unhealthy and his spiritual nature was strange, but that doesn't make him guilty.

Prosecutors say Creato killed his son because he'd become an impediment to his relationship with a teenage girlfriend. But Creato maintains his innocence, saying his son wandered away from home on his own shortly before he was found about a mile away, in October 2015.

The trial takes place only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.