Accused Millburn Home Invader Convicted 20 Years Ago of Similar Incident

The man accused of the violent home invasion in Millburn, was convicted 22 years ago of a similar incident in another quiet suburban town just outside of Philadelphia.

In September of 1991, Shawn Custis, was sentenced to 10 years in jail for repeatedly assaulting a young mother in the Camden County town of Delran in front of her 18-month-old daughter and pushing the pair down a flight of stairs, NJ.com reports.

The career criminal, now 42 years old, found himself in court on Tuesday again on similar charges. He entered a plea of not guilty.

Custis is accused of the brutal attack a Millburn woman in her home for three minutes—all of which captured on a nanny cam—while her 3-year-old daughter sat just feet away and the woman's 1-year-old child slept upstairs.

At the time of the Delran home invasion, Custis was on probation for another burglary conviction in 1991, according to the Burlington County Times. He was paroled in 1998 and found himself back in prison for resisting arrest and eluding police until he was paroled again in 2003. 

Just six months ago, Custis was released from jail where he served a 10-month stint for a series of burglaries in multiple counties in New Jersey over the last seven years.

Authorities declined to comment on Custis' previous convictions in a press conference following his arraignment Tuesday.

Custis currently faces charges of first-degree attempted murder, first-degree robbery, second-degree burglary and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, according to Kathy Carter, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office.

“We believe it was his intent to kill the woman,” Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Fennelly said.

Custis’ bail remains at $750,000 and he was transported to Essex County Jail. He was also ordered to have no contact with the victim. 

He was arrested without incident Friday just after 5:30 p.m. in the lobby of an apartment building in the 3,000-block on 10th Street in New York City, Chief of Detectives Anthony Ambrose said. His arrest came about an hour after authorities identified him as the alleged intruder.

Authorities declined to comment why Custis was at this address or if he was with someone.

According to Carter, Custis was living in New York City, but the address is unknown. The last known address for Custis is Newark.

“The video shows what a violent crime looks like,” Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray said. “We have a tremendous amount of violent crime in Essex County, but when people in the community see what it really looks like that’s why we got the outpouring of assistance that we did.” 

The reward for the intruder was increased to more than $20,000 with contributions from local residents, business owners and Sen. Richard Codey.

Millburn Lt. Keith Laverty led the investigation with three other local officers, according to Capt. Michael Palardy.