(WHDH) — A man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for stabbing a woman with a semen-filled syringe outside of a grocery store in Edgewater, Maryland back in 2020, officials announced Friday.
Thomas Stemen, 52, of Churchton, entered an Alford plea to one count of felony first-degree assault and one count of second-degree assault on June 16, 2020, according to Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess.
He was recently sentenced to 10 years of active incarceration and five years of supervised probation.
Stemen also must undergo substance abuse and mental health evaluations and receive treatment upon his release from prison.
On Feb. 18, 2020, a woman reported to police that earlier that day she had been putting away a shopping cart in the parking lot of Christopher’s Grocery Store on Shady Side Drive when a man bumped into her, leaving her with a pain in her buttocks, the state’s attorney’s office said.
She jumped back and asked the man if he burned her with a cigarette, in which he replied, “Ya, it felt like a bee sting, didn’t it?” the state’s attorney’s office added.
When she returned home, she reportedly saw a small red spot and what appeared to be a puncture wound on her buttocks.
She also allegedly felt a wet substance on her pants.
Officers responded to the parking lot and watched surveillance video which officials say showed a man walking up behind the victim, pulling something out of his pocket, and pushing it against her.
The video also reportedly showed the same man lunging at two additional females.
The following day, the victim saw that she now had a round red area on her buttocks where she was attacked and sought medical treatment.
Stemen was identified as the suspect through tips police received after releasing the surveillance video, the state’s office said.
He was placed under arrest and a search of his vehicle led to the discovery of a large syringe in the driver’s side door that had an unknown liquid inside, according to the state’s office.
Additional syringes were reportedly found inside his home, including one that contained an unknown substance.
They were sent to a crime lab for DNA analysis, which revealed the unknown substance to be semen that matched the DNA of Stemen, the state’s office said.
Authorities identified the two additional female victims that Stemen allegedly tried to stab.
The state’s office says Stemen pleaded guilty to second-degree assault for his contact with a 17-year-old girl who was not harmed.
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