Jail Time For Man Who Held Babysitter At Gunpoint In Medford

MEDFORD, NJ — A Philadelphia man has been sentenced to 13 years in state prison after police say he broke into a home armed with a handgun and threatened a 19-year-old woman who was babysitting a 2-year-old child in Medford earlier this year, Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina announced.

Shannon M. Soroka, 25, previously pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery, second-degree burglary and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, according to authorities.
Soroka must serve 11 years of his term before becoming eligible for parole, according to authorities.

Soroka entered a home on Muirfield Court through the front door late Thursday afternoon, March 21, and threatened the woman with a handgun, Medford police said. He demanded to know where the homeowners kept their money.

He initially pointed the gun at her head, then put it in the middle of her back, according to the prosecutor’s office. He directed her around the house at gunpoint, looking for money. The babysitter was able to put the child in a bedroom and close the door before she was taken to the basement and locked in a bathroom, according to the prosecutor’s office.

She escaped through a window and ran to a neighbor’s house to call police. Soroka escaped the house before police arrived. Neither the babysitter nor the child were hurt during the break-in, police said.

Soroka was arrested and charged the following day, police said. He had accumulated tens of thousands of dollars in gambling and drug debts, and had broken into the house looking for money to pay them, according to the prosecutor’s office.

“We admire the courage displayed by the victim and her determination to protect the child under her care,” Coffina said. “This is one of the most frightening situations anyone could encounter, and I commend the investigators who identified and quickly apprehended this dangerous defendant.”

Read more here: Babysitter Held At Gunpoint In South Jersey Home Break-In: Cops