Sex Offender Cop to be Sentenced Thursday

Suspended Moorestown police officer Robert Melia, who was convicted in April on a slew of sexual assault charges, is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday morning.

Melia was originally supposed to be sentenced back in September, but the hearing has since been delayed a number of times. 

Joel Bewley, spokesman for the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office, has said the prosecution will seek sentences in excess of 50 years for both Melia and his ex-girlfriend, Heather Lewis, who was also found guilty of several sex crimes.

Melia, who formerly lived on Cottage Avenue in Moorestown, was suspended without pay from the Moorestown Police Department after his arrest in 2008.

Township attorney Thomas Coleman said Melia cannot be formally terminated until after his sentencing. Melia will lose all his benefits and pension upon being fired from the department, Coleman explained.

The often-explicit three-week trial laid bare Melia's and Lewis' sex lives, which included bondage fetishism and an extensive pornography collection. 

In the testimony presented during the trial, three teenage girls accused the couple of sexually assaulting them in various ways. A damning video showed one of the accusers blindfolded and shackled, with Lewis performing various sex acts on the girl and the girl being instructed to perform sex acts on Lewis.

The case drew national attention not only for its salacious nature, but also because Melia's original indictment included animal cruelty charges for allegedly performing sex acts on cattle, which were dismissed.

The sentencing hearing will be held at 9 a.m. at the Burlington County courthouse in Mount Holly.