Auburn Man Sentenced For Sexually Assaulting New Jersey Teen Girl
Wednesday, October 29, 2025, 8:30 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
NEPTUNE, NJ.- Last Friday, a 35-year-old Auburn, New York, man learned he would be spending the next decade in New Jersey State Prison, after being sentenced for sexually assaulting a Monmouth County teenage girl at a local Monmouth County motel back in April of 2023.
According to Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago, on Friday, October 24, 2025, David Leigh, 35, of Auburn, New York, appeared in Monmouth County Superior Court and was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Natalie S. Watson to ten years in State Prison.
In handing down the sentence, Judge Watson ordered Leigh to serve at least five years of his custodial term before becoming eligible for parole. In addition, Leigh will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and be subject to parole supervision for life.
The sentence stems from an investigation that was conducted by Detectives of the Neptune Police Department, which uncovered that Leigh and the victim, who was 14 years old at the time, had met over a social media platform. Shortly thereafter, in April 2023, Leigh and the teen girl met in person at a motel in Neptune, New Jersey, where the sexual assault occurred. During the investigation, Detectives learned that the teen girl had told Leigh of her age before the sexual assault.
Leigh was arrested in January 2024, and just two months later, a Monmouth County Grand Jury returned a three-count indictment charging Leigh with the sex crimes.
On Thursday, June 26, 2025, following a week-long trial in Monmouth County Superior Court, a jury deliberated for just two hours before finding Leigh guilty. During the trial, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office presented physical and electronic evidence, along with the victim’s testimony, that proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Leigh had committed the sexual assault.
