Youth Minister Guilty Of Molesting Girl, 15, In South Brunswick

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — A former youth minister at a church in Franklin Township — who had previously served seven years in prison for a 1990 sexual assault conviction — was convicted Friday of having criminal sexual contact with a girl who was 15 at the time, prosecutors said. He molested the girl in South Brunswick Twp. and at his home in Hillsborough, police said.

Police launched the investigation after the 15-year-old victim contacted the South Brunswick police in July of 2014.

Shawn Butler, 52, of Hillsborough was found guilty by a jury on Friday, Nov. 16 of endangering the welfare of a child in the third degree and criminal sexual contact in the fourth degree. When the molestation occurred, he had been working as a youth minister at the Eternal Life Christian Center in the Somerset section of Franklin Township and also served on the church’s executive board.

He worked as a youth minister for 10 years despite having pleaded guilty in December 1990 to seven years in state prison to a December 1989 sexual assault charge, NJ.com reported.

In addition to that, Butler was already serving three years probation with 50 hours of community service after pleading guilty to a criminal sexual contact charge from February 1988, NJ.com also reported.

Butler used to live in North Plainfield before moving to Hillsborough.

Middlesex County prosecutors say Butler improperly touched the girl in South Brunswick and again at his home in Hillsborough on a number of occasions between March 2014 and June 2014.

He had previously been charged with sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in North Brunswick on various occasions between July 2012 and August 2013, but was not convicted of those allegations.

With his Nov. 16, 2018 conviction, he is facing up to five years in state prison, and will be subjected to Megan’s Law upon his release; he will be placed on parole supervision for life.

Butler was arrested and charged following an investigation by Detective Mark Morris of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and Detective Roger Tuohy of the South Brunswick Police Department. Thomas Carver was the Middlesex County assistant prosecutor who prosecuted the case.

Photo of Butler from the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office