A Phillips man remains in jail on a $25,000 bail after he was arrested on multiple charges for the alleged sexual assault of a teenage girl in Farmington.

Shawn Burnell, 21, was arrested by the Farmington Police Department on felony charges of unlawful sexual touching, criminal threatening and criminal restraint.

According to court documents, on July 20 Burnell reportedly tried to force a teenage girl to drink alcohol, waved a knife in her face, held her down and attempted to rape her.

Court documents state Burnell cornered the teenager behind Front Street near Narrow Gauge Cinemas.

The victim reported to police that she attempted to escape multiple times and each time she was allegedly caught by Burnell and forced back to the secluded area before she eventually escaped to McDonald’s at the corner of Front Street and Main Street where she called for help.

Burnell is charged with class B unlawful sexual contact, punishable by up to 10 years incarceration; class C criminal threatening, punishable by up to five years incarceration and class C criminal restraint, also punishable by up to five years incarceration.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.