FRANKLIN (Somerset) — A Burlington County man faces multiple charges, including sexual assault and kidnapping, after he allegedly held a Township woman captive and assaulted her repeatedly over a 12-hour period earlier this month, authorities said.
Walter Robinson, 40, of Edgewater Park, was charged with sexual assault, kidnapping, strangulation, terroristic threats, unlawful possession of a weapon and two counts of unlawful possession of a weapon, Somerset County Prosecutor John McDonald said.
Robinson was arrested at his home on March 4 following an investigation by Franklin Township police and the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
At approximately 4:20 p.m. on March 3, town police and the prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit received a 911 call from a woman reporting a sexual assault.
The woman told investigators she was held against her will in the home and sexually assaulted multiple times by Robinson over a 12-hour period, the prosecutor’s office said. She and Robinson were previously in a relationship, which ended in 2024, but still kept in touch occasionally.
According to authorities, Robinson told the woman during a phone conversation the night before that he was going to her home. Despite her telling him not to do it, he arrived at around 3 a.m.
The woman said Robinson made sexual advances toward her but she refused, then he took a knife from the home and threatened her life, authorities said.
Robinson then allegedly sexually assaulted the woman multiple times under threat of harm before leaving the residence around 3 p.m. The woman told investigators she tried multiple times to alert neighbors but was unsuccessful.
The next day, members of the Willingboro Township SWAT team executed a search warrant at Robinson’s home, where Robinson was arrested without incident, authorities said.
Detectives recovered a knife from the home that matched the description of the weapon used during the attack, the prosecutor’s office said.
McDonald thanked the Willingboro Township Police Department, the Edgewater Park Township Police Department and the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office for their assistance in the investigation.
Robinson is being held in the Somerset County Jail pending a hearing in Superior Court.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit at 908-231-7100 or the Franklin Township Police Department at 732-873-5533, or submit a tip through the STOPit app. Tips can also be provided anonymously by calling 1-888-577-TIPS (8477) or visiting scpo.tips.
Email: mdeak@MyCentralJersey.com
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Burlington County, N.J. man charged with kidnapping in Franklin Township
