2003 Media Releases:

CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
VINCENT P. SARUBBI, CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR
MEDIA   INFORMATION

January 31, 2003
Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi announced today that a Camden County jury returned Guilty verdicts on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2003, against Kenneth Lewis, M/49, for one count of First-Degree Aggravated Sexual Assault and two counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child.

After a 2 1/2-day trial, the jury of six men and six women deliberated approximately seven hours before reaching the verdicts.

The victim, a female, was 8 years old at the time of the Aggravated Sexual Assault, which took place on Feb. 26, 2001. The defendant was arrested that day and has been in the Camden County Correctional Facility since. The Endangering charges stem from sexual contact made that day and also on another occasion in January 2001. The specific date of that offense was not determined.

The state's case, presented by Assistant Prosecutor Brian D. Gallagher, included testimony from the victim and a videotape of her original statement to police the night of the offense.

Lewis, a Camden resident, was a friend of the victim's family.

Superior Court Judge John T. McNeill III will sentence Lewis on a date still to be determined, after the defendant receives an evaluation at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenel, the state's institution for sex offenders.

Lewis faces up to 20 years in New Jersey State Prison for the Aggravated Sexual Assault and up to 10 years on each count of Endangering.

Following the verdicts, bail was revoked and the defendant was returned to the Camden County Correctional Facility pending sentencing.