Newark Man Pleads Guilty In Rutgers Rape

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — A Newark man admitted Monday, Dec. 3 to kidnapping and sexually assaulting a female student in a brutal attack last spring on the Rutgers New Brunswick campus, the Middlesex County Prosecutor's office announced Tuesday.

Michael P. Knight, 39, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault in the May 4, 2016 attack.

Prosecutors say that Knight followed the young woman as she walked on the College Avenue campus on Wednesday, May 4 at 3:30 a.m., Carey said. He attacked her in the area of Van Dyke Hall, near College Avenue and Seminary Place, campus police said.

He struck her in the face, severely beat her, dragged her to the side of a building and was sexually assaulting her when a group of individuals intervened, prosecutors said. She screamed out for help when she was first attacked, which alerted nearby witnesses who ran over, police said.

Knight fled on foot when the group intervened, running off towards Seminary Place. But as he ran, he said he had a gun and threatened to shoot one of the men who attempted to chase him.

The woman was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where she was treated for non-life threatening injuries. Initial Patch report on the incident: Rutgers Student Severely Beaten in Attempted Sex Assault on Campus: Prosecutor

Within days of the attack, the Middlesex County prosecutor had identified Knight as their suspect, released the above and images of him and set a $1 million bail. While he lives in Newark, Knight also has South Brunswick connections: He is wanted for a burglary that occurred in June, 2015 in South Brunswick Township, police there said.

Under a plea agreement reached with Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Allysa Gambarella, Knight will be sentenced to 22 years in a New Jersey state prison subject to the No Early Release Act. As such, Knight will have to serve 85 percent of the term before he can be released on parole.

Knight also must register as a Megan’s Law sex offender and will undergo parole supervision for life.

The sentence is expected to be imposed by Superior Court Judge Joseph A. Paone at a hearing on March 5, 2018.

Knight was charged during an investigation by Detective Sgt. Carlos Rodriguez of the Rutgers University Police Department and Detective George Stilwell of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Photos of Michael Knight provided by Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office and South Brunswick police.