An Egg Harbor City man who admitted to sexually assaulting two girls after breaking into their homes years apart was sentenced to 17 years in prison Monday.
The young girl woke up during the assault, and the suspect fled.
Her mother, who was asleep on the couch, told police she woke up to see someone running through her house from her daughter’s room, through the kitchen and into the side room.
DNA evidence was left behind, but no arrests were ever made.
That was until Brigantine Detective Sgt. Jack Glasser identified the case as one that could be solved with current DNA technology, Chief Rich Casamento previously said.
On July 18, 2003, Avis climbed into the bedroom window of a then-5-year-old girl. He then pulled down her pants and smacked her on the buttocks and hips.
A fingerprint taken from the girl’s window at the time matched Avis.
He pleaded guilty in July, facing 12 years in prison for aggravated sexual assault and five consecutive years for child endangerment.
Superior Court Judge Donna Taylor gave him the full amount.
Chief Assistant Prosecutor John Flammer said the state was constrained by the laws that existed at the time of the offenses.
“Since 1996, the Legislature has greatly enhanced the penalties for sexual offenses involving children,” he said. “If committed today, this defendant would have faced the potential for much more severe consequences.
The 1996 attack was one of
more than a dozen reports in the town over the summers of 1995 and 1996, including attempted sexual assaults of two teenage girls, and several other reports of voyeuristic behavior.
The incidents created widespread panic, leading to an increased police presence at the time, State Police wrote in a news release at the time.
“For more than two decades the victims and their families have waited to know who did this,” Flammer said Monday. “They may never know why Brian Avis chose them, but today, at a minimum, they have a degree of closure and a measure of justice.”
Both victims and family members were present at sentencing.
One victim told the court and Avis that his actions have caused her lifelong emotional trauma.
The defendant apologized to both victims.
The cases were investigated by the City of Brigantine and Galloway Township Police Departments, the New Jersey State Police Cold Case Unit and the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit.
“Today’s sentencing is the result of the diligent detective work by the members of our Cold Case Unit and our law enforcement partners who utilized modern day technology to bring these cases to a successful conclusion,” said State Police Superintendent Col. Patrick J. Callahan. “The investigators never wavered in their efforts to achieve this sentence and bring justice to the victims.”
