A 48-year-old Freehold borough man will spend at least 34 years in prison before he's eligible for parole after a Monmouth County jury convicted him of forcing his way into a 19-year-old woman's car at gunpoint, robbing her, and trying to sexually assault her at a Manalapan park in August 2023. Anthony Burke was sentenced to 40 years behind bars, capping a case built on witness statements, a composite sketch, and digital forensics that took investigators from a quiet township park to a traffic stop miles away.
The attack happened on August 14, 2023, when Manalapan Township Police responded to a reported armed robbery at Thompson Grove Park, according to New Jersey 101.5. Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago said Burke forced his way into the victim's car, robbed her, and tried to sexually assault her at gunpoint. The teenager managed to escape and ran to a nearby home for help, and Burke made off with her phone, keys, and cash.
Thompson Grove Park itself is a 65-acre municipal park on Thompson Grove Road maintained by Manalapan Township, offering open fields, walking trails, a fishing lake, a dog park, and an 18-hole disc golf course, according to information from Manalapan Township — the kind of everyday recreational space that made the assault all the more jarring for local residents.
A Multi-Agency Hunt Led to a Freehold Traffic Stop
Tracing the attack back to Burke required a coordinated effort. The investigation into the assault was conducted by the Manalapan Township Police Department alongside the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office's Major Crimes, Special Victims, and High Tech bureaus, with support from Freehold Township Police, Freehold Borough Police, the Monmouth County Sheriff's Office, and the New Jersey State Police Forensic Imaging Unit, per Jersey Shore Online. Investigators leaned on witness statements, a composite sketch, law-enforcement surveillance, and cell-phone, digital-forensic, and vehicle-location records to trace the crime back to Burke.
That trail led to a separate incident just weeks later. Police say Burke, driving his own pickup truck, pulled over a driver in Freehold Township and stole the driver's cell phone. He was arrested within days during a traffic stop in Freehold Borough, according to the same report from New Jersey 101.5. The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office had detailed that incident back in September 2023, noting Burke was charged with fourth-degree impersonating a police officer, second-degree robbery, and four counts of third-degree controlled dangerous substance possession, with the robbery charge alone carrying up to 10 years in prison.
Repeat Offender Status Drove the 40-Year Term
Burke's criminal history played a central role in how severe his sentence could be. Prior to this conviction, Burke — who also used the alias Gary Williams — had compiled a violent record that included aggravated assault convictions in both 2020 and 2022. Because the jury formally designated him a repeat violent offender based on those past convictions, state law exposed him to an extended sentencing range of 20 years to life in prison, far beyond the standard 10-to-20-year term for first-degree crimes without such an enhancement.
The two-week trial concluded in February 2026 with the Monmouth County Superior Court jury convicting Burke of first-degree armed robbery, first-degree attempted aggravated sexual assault, and two second-degree weapons offenses. Superior Court Judge Paul X. Escandon handed down the 40-year sentence, with Assistant Prosecutor Caitlin J. Sidley prosecuting the case for the state and defense attorney Michael A. Policastro of Milltown representing Burke.
What the 34-Year Parole Bar Actually Means
Burke's sentence is governed by New Jersey's No Early Release Act, a law that requires anyone convicted of first-degree violent crimes like armed robbery and attempted aggravated sexual assault to serve at least 85 percent of their total sentence before becoming eligible for parole, according to materials published by the law firm Chamlin, Uliano & Walsh. For Burke's 40-year term, that translates to a mandatory minimum of 34 years before he can even be considered for release, followed by five more years of mandatory parole supervision once he is out.
The law stands in sharp contrast to how New Jersey treats non-violent felonies, where inmates can often qualify for parole after serving a much smaller fraction of their sentence. NERA applies exclusively to a defined list of violent offenses, including robbery and aggravated sexual assault, eliminating the early-release discretion that exists elsewhere in the system.
Public jail records show Burke was held continuously at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution starting September 21, 2023, following his arrest in Freehold Borough, meaning he remained incarcerated through his entire two-week trial in February 2026 and his sentencing this week. While awaiting trial in June 2024, Burke also filed a pro se civil rights lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, naming an assistant prosecutor, local police detectives, and municipal police departments as defendants in a case docketed under number 3:2024cv06672. The outcome of that federal lawsuit, along with the final disposition of Burke's separate police-impersonation and robbery charges from the Freehold Township traffic stop, remains unresolved.
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