N.J. man who met woman on Facebook, sexually assaulting her at hotel sentenced to prison

A 56-year-old man who met a woman on Facebook and later sexually assaulted her in an Atlantic City hotel room has been sentenced to four years in state prison.
Gary M. Kearns, of Brick, will be required to serve more than three years and four months before he is eligible for parole, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said Wednesday. He will also have to register as a sex offender and be on parole for life.
Kearns provided the woman a fake name when he communicated with the woman on Facebook, officials said.
He later brought her to Atlantic City under the pretense of going on a date. He then sexually assaulted her in August 2021 before fleeing the hotel.
Authorities said the woman lived more than an hour from Atlantic City,
Kearns pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault on Aug. 26.
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Jeff Goldman may be reached at [email protected].