Elizabethtown man convicted of sexually assaulting woman after carrying her groceries | Local News

An Elizabethtown man faces up to 13 years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman after carrying her groceries home.

Drew Deshong, 36, was sentenced to 6½ to 13 years in prison by Lancaster County Judge Dennis Reinaker after pleading guilty on April 24 to charges of aggravated sexual assault and seven related offenses for a 2022 assault.

According to prosecutors, police arrived at the woman’s home around 6:20 p.m. on October 17. There, she told prosecutors that Deshong approached her at a grocery store and offered to carry her bags home. He called himself Carlos Cartagena, but was identified by police as Deshong.

On the way home, Deshong told the woman that there was a warrant out for his arrest and that he planned to turn himself in to the police. Deshong had warrants out for false accusation, disturbing the peace, public intoxication, trespassing, loitering and prowling, drug possession and harassment in connection with crimes committed in January and March 2022.

The woman offered to cook her food if Deshong carried her groceries, prosecutors said. While the woman was cooking, Deshong came out of her bathroom wearing a headscarf and sunglasses, pulled out a knife and told her: “Now you are going to live out your favorite fantasy.”

According to prosecutors, Deshong physically and sexually abused the woman, pulling out some of her hair and knocking out a tooth. She was able to escape from her home and call police using a neighbor’s phone. When asked after the assault why he approached the woman, Deshong told police it was “because she seemed like a nice lady.”

Prosecutors said police found meth in Deshong’s abandoned clothing and later found Deshong in the woman’s bathrobe.

Deshong has previous convictions for robbery in 2006, drug possession with intent to resell in 2008, drug possession in 2021, and false imposition in 2022. He is currently incarcerated at SCI Smithfield, a state prison in Huntingdon County.

The YWCA Lancaster operates a 24/7 Sexual Assault Hotline at 717-392-7273. It connects callers to free, confidential counseling and therapy services for community members experiencing sexual abuse, harassment or assault.