Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office

25 Kirkpatrick Street, 3^rd Floor, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901 (732) 745-3300

*News Release* Date: February 23, 2010

Ex-Middlesex County resident sentenced for sexually assaulting child

Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan announced today that a former resident of Edison and North Brunswick has been sentenced to a 20-year-term in a New Jersey state prison for sexually assaulting a girl for three years, beginning when she was 9 years old.

Stephen Gethange (DOB 7/2/65) of Harrisburg, Pa. was ordered to serve 85 percent of the term before he can be eligible for parole.

Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves, sitting in New Brunswick, also ordered Gethange to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and said the defendant will be subjected to lifetime community supervision.

Gethange was credited with 637 days he has been in custody since he was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting the girl on numerous occasions between January 2000 and December 2003.

Gethange was sentenced on February 22, 2010, after he was convicted on September 29, 2009, of aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault and endangering the welfare of the child.

Before trial began, Gethange rejected an offer from the prosecution to plead guilty and face a four-year prison term.

During the trial, Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Lynn Pilone presented testimony showing that the victim, now a 19-year-old woman, was repeatedly assaulted by Gethange at his home in Edison. The assaults continued when he later moved to North Brunswick.

Police began an investigation after the victim reported the assaults on May 1, 2008, when she was 18 years old.