Woman recounts rape ordeal

Man abducted her, put knife to throat, alleged victim testifies

Sara Ganim

BELLEFONTE — An 18-year-old Philipsburg woman testified Wednesday that she was just walking her bike on a sidewalk near Presquiesle Street in Philipsburg July 23, trying to get to a friend's home, when a man named "Jim" abducted her and took her to a wooded area where he raped her.

Police say “Jim” was James B. Lowe, a 31-year-old Megan’s Law offender who they identified days later when he left a threatening note on a counselor’s car, blaming her for something he did that “ruined his life.”

Lowe wasn’t present at his preliminary hearing Wednesday. The woman testified that she had gotten lost riding from her mom’s house in Morrisdale to a friend’s home in Houtzdale and was tired around 11 p.m. when a man in a truck pulled up beside her, said, “Hi, I’m Jim,” picked up her 100- pound body and put her in his car.

District Judge Tom Jordan found enough evidence for Lowe to face trial on rape, unlawful restraint, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault and other related charges. Lowe, who lived at 14 N. Second St., Apt. A, is in jail indefinitely on a probation detainer. He is a career criminal with seven convictions on his record.

He has been convicted of possessing child pornography, terroristic threats, reckless endangerment, corruption of minors, indecent assault of a child, unlawful restraint and DUI since 2001.

“I was just so scared,” the woman said, explaining under cross examination why she struggled very little. “I didn’t want to get hurt.”

After taking her down a dirt road on the wooded property, Lowe let the woman out of the car, put his hand over her mouth, put a knife to her throat, and threw her cell phone into the weeds, the woman said.

“He dragged me down to this spot in the grass,” she testified. “He pushed me down on my knees and then laid me on my back.”

After he raped her, he let her get dressed and began walking her down the dirt road, but she said she was able to scream for help from a man who was parking his truck nearby.

“Jim put his hand over my mouth,” she said, but the man started walking over and her assailant ran away. The good Samaritan took the woman to his house where they called police.

District Attorney Michael Madeira wouldn’t say if there was DNA evidence to link Lowe to the crime. Philipsburg state police said they arrested Lowe after interviewing him at the jail, where he was taken after allegedly stealing a car.

Lowe first told police a woman offered him sex for a ride to Houtzdale, but later admitted to raping the woman and using a knife, said Trooper Richard Hoover.

The only difference in the story Lowe told, pointed out his attorney, Assistant Public Defender Sean McGraw, was that Lowe said he came across the woman on foot, not while he was driving a vehicle.

Sara Ganim can be reached at 231-4616.