Former Penn State student sentenced after being charged with raping woman in dorm room
CORRECTION: This story and headline were updated to reflect the correct charge Brian J. Loeper pleaded guilty to.
A former Penn State student was sentenced Tuesday to a minimum of 11 and a half months in jail after being charged with raping an unconscious woman in August 2021.
Brian J. Loeper, 20, of Delaware County, pleaded guilty in June to misdemeanor unlawful restraint. He also had been charged with one felony count each of rape, sexual assault and aggravated indecent assault but pleaded not guilty to those charges and they were dismissed on Tuesday.
“I am still scared to go out into public places,” the woman said in court, adding she was “too scared” to leave her room following the incident, so she had to drop almost all of her classes.
She said she had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety following the assault.
Loeper was accused of raping the woman in her dorm room after an Aug. 26 party on the University Park campus, university police wrote in an affidavit of probable cause. The assault occurred just days after the fall semester began.
Police wrote that Loeper acknowledged having sexual intercourse with the woman in a text message. He also expressed concern about a timely warning — notices sent by the university to students and employees — that reported a rape took place “at the exact time and day,” police wrote.
Loeper searched the internet for answers to questions about sexual assault charges including “Are you allowed to stay on campus after a sexual assault,” police wrote.
Loeper was expelled from Penn State following an on-campus investigation by the Office of Student Conduct and the Office of Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response. Loeper has not been a student at the university since the 2022 spring semester.
This story was originally published July 11, 2023 at 5:30 PM.
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