Shawn R. Tracey
Introduction
Shawn R. Tracey is a 45-year-old man from Mount Holly, New Jersey, who served as a deacon at the Burlington Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Burlington City, and who was sentenced on November 6, 2026, to 25 years in New Jersey state prison for sexually assaulting a child. Tracey pleaded guilty in June 2026 to first-degree aggravated sexual assault under an agreement with the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office; the specific charge applies to a victim younger than 13 years old. Under the plea, he must serve the entire 25-year sentence before becoming eligible for parole, must register as a sex offender in New Jersey, and will be subject to parole supervision for life after release.
Background Information
Tracey came under investigation in the summer of 2025, after authorities were notified of the sexual abuse of a child. The investigation, conducted by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit with assistance from the Mount Holly Township Police Department, found that the abuse had happened over more than two years at multiple locations in Burlington County. Additional information about the case has been withheld to protect the victim’s identity. When charges were announced on June 3, 2025, Tracey was accused of 10 counts of aggravated sexual assault, 13 counts of debauching the morals of a child, two counts of sexual assault and one count of showing obscene material to a minor.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Convicted by guilty plea and sentenced. Tracey admitted first-degree aggravated sexual assault of a child under 13. The abuse account is drawn from prosecutors’ announcements; details beyond the court record are intentionally withheld to protect the victim.
At the June 2026 plea hearing Tracey admitted first-degree aggravated sexual assault in exchange for the agreed 25-year term. Prosecutors said the sexual abuse of the girl — who was under 13 — continued over a period of more than two years and occurred at multiple locations across Burlington County. The church role gave Tracey standing in the Burlington City Seventh-Day Adventist congregation where he served as a deacon, and the charges ended that role when they became public in June 2025. Superior Court Judge Aimee Belgard, the presiding criminal judge, imposed the sentence in Mount Holly on November 6, 2026, and ordered sex-offender registration and parole supervision for life. The sentence hearing concluded a case that the prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit opened in the summer of 2025; county Detective Michele Ragone served as lead investigator and Assistant Prosecutor Stephen Eife, supervisor of the Special Victims Unit, prosecuted.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The sentence was announced by Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw’s office and reported by Philadelphia and South Jersey outlets the same day. Local coverage emphasised the church role and the agreed sentence structure: because the plea locked in the term, Tracey will be in his late 60s before any parole eligibility, and the lifetime parole supervision and registration requirements follow him after release. The case drew attention in the community as one of several New Jersey clergy-adjacent prosecutions in recent years in which the offender’s standing in a congregation was cited in coverage of the abuse. No public statement from Tracey or a defence lawyer was reported in the sentencing coverage.
Current Status
Tracey is serving a 25-year sentence at the New Jersey State Prison system, imposed November 6, 2026. He must serve every day of the term before parole eligibility under the plea agreement, and upon any eventual release he faces lifetime parole supervision and mandatory sex-offender registration. The disposition ends the prosecution that began with charges on June 3, 2025; the remaining counts were resolved by the plea. No appeal has been reported.
Impact on Their Career/Life
Tracey’s standing as a deacon is gone, and the guilty plea to first-degree aggravated sexual assault makes him a registered sex offender for life. The 25-year term means he will spend roughly the remainder of his working life incarcerated, and the lifetime parole supervision requirement keeps state oversight in place after any release. For the Burlington Seventh-Day Adventist congregation, the case removed a holder of an appointed office of trust; for the victim, whose identity the county has shielded throughout, the sentence concluded a prosecution opened within weeks of the report in the summer of 2025.