Repeat rapist sentenced to 4–10 years for three assaults in Mooresville, Lincoln County

MOORESVILLE, N.C. ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — A Sherrills Ford man has been sentenced after several sexual assaults, the Mooresville Police Department announced on Thursday.

Michael Brandon Shinn, 31, took an Alford Plea for three counts of 2nd-degree forcible sex offense as a combination of charges out of Mooresville and Lincoln County.

An Alford Plea typically means a defendant has formally pleaded guilty but maintains that they are innocent.

The first incident that sparked these charges was on June 19, 2022, when a woman said she met Shinn online and agreed to meet in Mooresville on June 16. Shinn drove her to a remote parking lot at 1459 River Highway, where officials say he forcibly sexually assaulted her.

He then left the woman in the parking lot without her phone or car. Authorities were able to identify Shinn through the woman’s description of him and his vehicle.

Two days later, another woman who had been hospitalized in Huntersville came forward, also saying she agreed to meet Shinn in Mooresville, was driven to the same remote parking lot, assaulted and left alone in the parking lot.

In June 2022, Shinn was charged with 2nd-degree forcible sex offense and two counts of 2nd-degree forcible rape in connection to the two Mooresville assaults.

In the investigation, detectives discovered that Shinn was targeting a woman online and may have committed similar assaults in other areas. Lincoln County Sheriff’s detectives got word of the assaults and were able to link him to a case in their county.

A 29-year-old woman from out of the country said she agreed to go out with Shinn on March 26, 2022. Yet again, Shinn was accused of picking the woman up and assaulting her in his car.

A fourth woman who lives in Lincoln County also says Shinn assaulted her in his car on January 29. In September 2022, Shinn was charged in Lincoln County with two counts of 1st-degree sex offense and two counts of 2nd-degree kidnapping.

On July 23, 2024, Shinn was given a combined sentence of between 4 years, 2 months, and 10 years for the three counts of 2nd-degree forcible sex offense. Following his release, he will a registered sex offender for 30 years and on probation for the first 10 years.

In addition, he is ordered to have no contact with the three victims tied to this conviction.

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