Judge compares attack on Saint Vincent student to horror film, imposes 10-year sentence

A Westmoreland County judge on Monday compared the September 2017 attack on a Saint Vincent College student to a horror movie as she imposed a 10-year prison sentence against the former Somerset County man convicted in April of attempted rape.

“This type of offense is truly the kind of things horror films are made of,” Judge Meagan Bilik- DeFazio said.

Luke Hoover, 24, was sentenced for the attack nearly four years ago against an 18-year-old Kittanning woman. A jury convicted Hoover of attempted rape, aggravated assault, strangulation and simple assault.

During the two-day trial, prosecutors said Hoover stalked the woman as she walked along a trail at Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve in Unity during the first weeks of her freshman year.

Hoover’s victim testified he passed her on the trail, turned and grabbed her from behind and wrapped his forearm around her neck before she fought him off and fled. Prosecutors said Hoover was identified by another Saint Vincent student, who worked part-time at a halfway house near Latrobe, from a picture taken by a security camera at the nature reserve.

The victim, who later transferred to another school, testified the man in the picture was the same person who attacked her on the trail.

Hoover did not testify during his trial and declined to speak during Monday’s sentencing hearing.

“He does not wish to make any statements, and he does wish to appeal,” assistant public defender Mike Garofalo said.

At trial, the prosecution told jurors Hoover was convicted of sexual assaults as a juvenile for incidents in 2012, 2013 and 2015. In those cases, Hoover’s victims claimed he approached them from behind and put his hands around their necks before pulling off their pants.

“The evidence shows he’s likely to re-offend if released. This is a case where he needs to be warehoused to keep him away from the public,” Lazar said.

The judge ordered Hoover to serve 5 to 10 years in prison. The sentence will run consecutively to a 2- to 5-year sentence Hoover received after he pleaded guilty in 2019 to sex offenses in Somerset County.