NORRISTOWN — A Norristown man is headed to prison on charges he strangled a woman and restrained her during an altercation at his residence.
Dwayne Aaron Campbell, 62, of the 400 block of East Moore Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 5 to 10 years in a state correctional facility on charges of strangulation and unlawful restraint in connection with a June 2022 incident at his residence. Campbell will receive credit for the time he’s been in jail, while awaiting trial, since his arrest on June 14, 2022.
Judge Virgil B. Walker, who convicted Campbell of the charges during a nonjury trial, recommended Campbell serve the sentence at the State Correctional Institution at Laurel Highlands in Somerset County, which houses older offenders and those who have medical conditions.
The judge said Campbell should receive psychiatric treatment in accordance with the results of mental health, drug and alcohol evaluations.
Campbell was ordered to have no contact with the victim.
An investigation of Campbell began on June 13, 2022, when a woman reported to county detectives that Campbell strangled her in his home during an encounter earlier in June. The woman explained she met Campbell in March 2022 and had a sexual encounter with him, according to the criminal complaint filed by county Detective Kathleen Kelly.
“She said about two weeks later, Campbell began making arrangements for her to have sex with his associates in exchange for a cash payment and drugs,” Kelly alleged in the arrest affidavit.
During the first week in June, Campbell made an arrangement for the woman to have sex with “an associate” at his residence and during that encounter the man paid the woman an extra $50 without Campbell’s knowledge, detectives said. However, Campbell found out about the extra $50 and “he became enraged and refused to let her leave the residence,” Kelly alleged.
The woman told detectives that Campbell put her in a “choke hold.”
“She explained Campbell wrapped his arm around her neck and his arm was pressed against her throat,” Kelly wrote in the arrest affidavit, adding the victim reported she could not speak and had difficulty breathing. “She explained that she was terrified.”
Campbell eventually released his choke hold and the woman attempted to leave the residence but Campbell stood in front of a back door to block her, according to court papers.
“She said she then gave Campbell the money given to her by Campbell’s associate and she left the residence,” Kelly alleged.
During the trial, the judge acquitted Campbell of a charge of false imprisonment.
Assistant District Attorney Gabriella Glenning handled the case. Defense lawyer Thomas C. Egan III represented Campbell during the court proceedings.
