NORRISTOWN — A Pottstown man will spend more than a decade in prison after he admitted to three separate crimes in the borough including rape, burglary and robbery.
Robert Edward Dixon, 59, of the unit block of King Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 8 to 16 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to charges of rape, robbery and burglary in connection with separate incidents that occurred between September and December 2021.
Judge Risa Vetri Ferman, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, also ordered Dixon to complete three years’ probation consecutive to parole, meaning Dixon will be under court supervision for 21 years.
The judge said Dixon must undergo a psychosexual evaluation and comply with all recommendations for treatment.
Additionally, Dixon faces a lifetime requirement to report his address to state police in order to comply with the state’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act, previously known as Megan’s Law.
Assistant District Attorney Gabriella Glenning sought the state prison sentence against Dixon, who she characterized as a danger to the community.
“We wanted to ensure that the community would be safe, as well as these victims,” Glenning said. “This is a man who has shown that he disregards the rules that apply to him and does what he wants, so a significant state sentence was warranted for him.”
The plea agreement spared the female rape and robbery victims from having to testify at a trial and relive the incidents.
“Both of these victims were violated in very intimate but different ways. Both of these women experienced the effects of trauma that this individual inflicted upon them,” Glenning said.
Defense lawyer Michael Anthony Walker represented Dixon.
By pleading guilty, Dixon avoided going to trial and the prospect of even more prison time if he was convicted by a jury of all the charges.
Dixon, according to court documents, sexually assaulted a woman in his residence on Sept. 11, 2021. Borough police responded to the residence at 12:50 a.m. when Dixon’s girlfriend at the time reported to police that she returned home from work to discover Dixon raping a woman at the residence, according to a criminal complaint filed by Pottstown Police Officer Adrian Stead.
The victim told police that she met Dixon earlier in the evening and they agreed to “smoke” together at Dixon’s residence, meaning they were going to consume narcotics, according to court papers. However, the woman discovered Dixon did not have enough narcotics for them to share so she went to leave the residence.
“As the victim grabbed the handle of the door to exit, Dixon attacked her,” Stead alleged, adding Dixon punched the woman in the face and after she fell to the floor Dixon proceeded to rape the victim.
The victim screamed “No” and “Please somebody help me,” according to court papers.
The sexual assault ended when Dixon’s girlfriend and a neighbor, who heard the victim’s screams, arrived at the residence, police said. The neighbor jumped on Dixon’s back and pulled Dixon away from the victim, police said.
Dixon then fled from the residence.
About an hour later, Dixon followed a woman into an elevator in an apartment building in the 400 block of High Street, punched her numerous times in the head and body and stole $10 from her, according to a second criminal complaint.
“The victim said she feared for her life as she was being assaulted,” Stead wrote in the arrest affidavit, adding surveillance cameras in the building assisted police in identifying Dixon as the attacker.
Dixon later was linked to burglaries at the Metro Diner and Pottstown Gas in the unit block of West High Street between Dec. 2 and Dec. 13, 2021, during which he smashed windows to gain access and stole cash from the businesses, according to court documents. Police obtained video surveillance footage from the area of the break-ins and positively identified Dixon as the burglar.
Other charges of sexual assault, indecent assault, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, criminal trespass, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and criminal mischief were dismissed against Dixon as part of the plea agreement.
