Homeless Man Admits Elderly Woman Sex Assault At Knifepoint: Police

WILLINGBORO, NJ - A homeless man has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting an elderly woman at knifepoint in Willingboro three years ago, authorities said.

Shawn Midgette, who was known to stay in the Willingboro area at the time of his arrest in July 2020, pleaded guilty last week to Aggravated Sexual Assault, as well as Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose for threatening another woman with a knife in a different incident.

He will serve a A five-year sentence for the weapons offense, plus 12 years in state prison for the aggravated sexual assault offense.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 27.

The charges stem from a July 24, 2020 incident in which an an elderly woman was sexually assaulted in her vehicle by a man who asked her for a ride, the prosecutor's office said. The man had entered her vehicle as the woman exited a pharmacy in the 100 block of Springside Road in Westampton.

The assailant then forced her to drive to the Garfield East section of Willingboro, where he assaulted her and took cash from her purse before fleeing on foot, the prosecutor's office said.

The following day, Mount Holly police received a report from a homeless woman who said she was threatened with a knife in Monroe Park. The victim knew Midgette, who was taken into custody two days later by Willingboro police at the McDonald’s restaurant on Beverly Rancocas Road.