NEW BRUNSWICK – A New Brunswick man was sentenced on March 7 to serve 20 years in prison for breaking into a woman’s home and sexually assaulting her.
Bruce Sterling, 45, was sentenced in New Brunswick by Superior Court Judge Alberto Rivas, according to a statement prepared by Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey.
The 20-year term was imposed after he was found guilty on Sept. 29, 2015, of burglary while armed, aggravated sexual assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and terroristic threats.
During a trial that began on Sept. 24, 2015, Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Lisa Miralles Walsh presented evidence and testimony showing that Sterling climbed though the window of a home in New Brunswick, took a knife from the kitchen and sexually assaulted a 25-year-old woman in her bedroom at 3:30 a.m. on June 9, 2003, Carey said.
He was charged when he attempted to break into a North Brunswick apartment and was chased by the homeowner. Police later found him hiding in the woods, Carey said.
Sterling previously had been tried and convicted in the case, but the conviction was overturned by the New Jersey Supreme Court in 2013.
An investigation linked him to other sexual assault cases. Detectives determined that on June 9, 2005, Sterling, who worked as a nurse’s aide, broke into the New Brunswick woman’s home and sexually assaulted her during his lunch break, Carey said.
The new term runs consecutively to a 50-year term he is serving for sexually assaulting women in Edison and New Brunswick, and for an armed burglary of an apartment in North Brunswick.
With the additional 20-year term, Sterling will serve 70 years with no chance of parole until 85 percent of the term is completed, Carey said. He already has served about nine years in custody since his arrest, Carey said.