Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey announced today that a New Brunswick man has been convicted a second time on charges of breaking into a woman’s home and sexually assaulting her.
Bruce Sterling, 45, was found guilty on September 29, 2015 of burglary while armed, aggravated sexual assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and terroristic threats.
The jury deliberated for about two hours before finding Sterling guilty.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on January 7, 2016 by Superior Court Judge Alberto Rivas to up to 20 years in a New Jersey state prison.
Sterling already is serving a 50-year term for sexually assaulting women in Edison and New Brunswick and for an armed burglary of an apartment in North Brunswick.
During a trial that began on September 24, 2015, Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor LisaMiralles 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.
He previously had been tried and convicted in the case, but the conviction was overturned by the New Jersey Supreme Court in 2013.
He was arrested and charged when he attempted to break into the North Brunswick apartment and was chased by the homeowner. Police later found him hiding in the woods.
An investigation linked him to the other sexual assault cases.
Detectives determined that on June 9, 2015, Sterling, who worked as a nurse’s aide, broke into the New Brunswick woman’s home and sexually assaulted her during his lunch break.