WILLINGBORO, NJ – Shawn Midgette, a 31-year-old homeless man, has pled guilty to sexually assaulting an elderly woman at knifepoint in Willingboro Township in the summer of 2020. The announcement was made by Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw.
Under a plea agreement, Midgette will serve 12 years in state prison for Aggravated Sexual Assault (First Degree). He also pled guilty to Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose (Third Degree) for brandishing a knife to threaten another woman in a separate event. A five-year sentence for the weapons charge will run concurrently with the 12-year term for sexual assault.
Midgette entered his pleas last week before the Hon. Christopher J. Garrenger, J.S.C., at the Superior Court in Mount Holly. Sentencing is scheduled for October 27.
The case began unfolding on July 24, 2020, when an elderly woman was sexually assaulted in her car by a man who had asked her for a ride as she was leaving a pharmacy on Springside Road in Westampton. The man coerced her to drive to the Garfield East area in Willingboro where he assaulted her and stole money from her purse before running away.
In a related event the next day, Mount Holly police were contacted by a homeless woman who claimed she was threatened by Midgette with a knife in Monroe Park. Midgette was arrested two days later at a McDonald’s restaurant on Beverly Rancocas Road by Willingboro police.