Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey announced today that a 40-year-old Newark man has been sentenced to 22 years in a New Jersey state prison for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a female student in New Brunswick.
Officials said Michael P. Knight was sentenced today in New Brunswick by Superior Court Judge Joseph A. Paone, for the kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault in the attack of a Rutgers’s student on May 4, 2016.
According to authorities, Knight received a 22 year sentence for kidnapping, and a 15 year sentence for aggravated sexual assault. The two sentences will run concurrent and are subject to the No Early Release Act. As such, Knight will have to serve 85 percent of the 22 year term before he can be released on parole.
In addition, the Judge ordered that Knight must register as a Megan’s Law offender and will undergo parole supervision for life.
Officials said Knight pleaded guilty on December 4, 2017 to one count of kidnapping and one count of aggravated sexual assault.
An investigation by Detective Sgt. Carlos Rodriguez of the Rutgers University Police Department and Detective George Stilwell of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office determined that on May 4, 2016 at 3:30 a.m. Knight followed the female student and attacked her near College Avenue and Seminary Place on the New Brunswick campus.
Police said Knight struck her on the head, severely beat her, dragged her to the side of a building and sexually assaulted her when a group of individuals intervened. As he fled, he said he had a gun and threatened to shoot one of the men who attempted to chase him.