Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey announced today that a Franklin Township man has been sentenced to serve 23 years in prison for kidnapping a child and then sexually assaulting and beating the mother in Highland Park on February 19, 2017.
According to authorities, Brandon Cox, 23, of the Somerset section of Franklin Township was sentenced to serve the 23 year term in a New Jersey state prison subject to the No Early Release Act. As such, Cox will have to serve 85 percent of the term before he can be released on parole.
Cox was sentenced on October 16, 2017, in accordance with a plea agreement reached with Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Allysa Gambarella. The defendant admitted kidnapping the victim’s child, and then attacking the mother, who was sexually assaulted and severely beaten.
Superior Court Judge Alberto Rivas, sitting in New Brunswick, ordered Cox to register as a Megan’s Law sex offender and also ordered that the defendant be placed on parole supervision for life upon his release from prison.
Cox was arrested and charged during an intensive investigation by Detective Sean McGraw of the Highland Park Police Department and Detective Allie Bitterman of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
During the investigation it was determined that the mother was walking with the child when the defendant approached, displayed a handgun, forced the mother into the basement of a nearby apartment building, sexually assaulted her, and repeatedly punched her before fleeing.