Probation, service for gun threat to fiancee

NORRISTOWN >> A Towamencin man was sentenced to probation and community service after admitting to assaulting his fiancée last August.

Shareef Dontae Parker, 25, of the 300 block of Christopher Court, was sentenced Monday by Montgomery County Court Judge Garrett Page to five years of court supervision, and 36 hours of community service.

Judge Page said he considered the pre-sentence report that indicated Parker was suffering from

post-traumatic stress disorder from childhood abuse in foster care.

“I will not, I cannot let whatever happened in the past be a leaning tool for

the defendant,” Page said.

Parker was arrested after his fiancée reported that he had punched her repeatedly, choked her and threatened her with a gun after an argument about her texting a mutual male friend of theirs. He said during the sentencing hearing that he thought the texts were “inappropriate.”

“It’s not her fault. I should have handled it better,” Parker said. “I’m trying to work on it.”

Parker pleaded guilty in May to misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats, simple assault and unlawful restraint. Court documents indicate prosecutors

replaced a felony aggravated assault charge originally filed against Parker with the unlawful restraint charge, and withdrew misdemeanor counts of simple assault and reckless endangerment, as well as summary harassment, as part of the plea deal.

His fiancée told prosecutors

that Parker was the main provider for their family, and the five children the couple have together, and asked the judge that he not be sent to prison.

The judge mandated that Parker attend anger management and domestic violence counseling and turn over any firearms in

his possession. Judge Page warned Parker that another offense could earn him a “substantial amount of time” in jail.

“I have to make sure nobody gets hurt on my watch,” the judge told Parker. He added, “You have to get this thing under control.”