Man gets prison time for sexual assault of 3 women in the State College area
A man was sentenced Tuesday to at least six years in state prison for sexually assaulting three women in State College and the surrounding area.
Moncef Guen, 26, of Maryland, was sentenced to a maximum of 12 years in prison and an additional six years of probation. He must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and must undergo mental health and sex offender treatment.
“Today’s sentence is a measure of accountability and an affirmation that sexual violence will be taken seriously in our community,” Centre County First Assistant District Attorney Joshua Andrews told the Centre Daily Times in a text message. “This outcome would not have been possible without the courage of the three survivors, who came forward, participated in this process, and made their voices heard despite the challenges of doing so.”
Centre County Judge Julia Rater signed off Tuesday on the agreement reached between county prosecutors and defense attorny Steve Trialonas. A message left Tuesday with Trialonas was not immediately returned.
Guen pleaded guilty in January to three felony counts of sexual assault, a felony count of strangulation and two misdemeanor counts of simple assault. Eight charges were dropped as part of the agreement.
“We recognize that no sentence can undo the trauma they have endured, but we hope this result offers some measure of validation and accountability,” Andrews said. “Our office remains committed to approaching these cases in a way that supports survivors, takes sexual violence seriously, and pursues justice with integrity, compassion, and a focus on community safety.”
Guen was arrested in May 2024 after State College police said he intentionally pushed a woman onto a bed after she told him she did not want to have sex and attempted to leave. He also strangled her twice.
In an affidavit of probable cause, a borough police detective said the woman had significant bruising on her neck, breasts and collarbone. While free on unsecured bail, Guen was charged five months later with the sexual assault of two more women.
He forced one to perform oral sex without her consent and grabbed her neck when she attempted to end their relationship. A Ferguson Township police detective said the woman had bruising on her neck and jaw.
Guen also had sexual intercourse with a woman without her consent and struck her in the face. The borough police detective said Guen later saved sexually explicit photos of the woman to his cellphone and said he would send them to her family if she did not see him again.
He posted $85,000 bail through a bondsman, but was later denied an opportunity to walk free after Centre County prosecutors described him as a “tremendous safety risk to the community.”
The bail decisions prompted one of the strongest public statements from Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna since he was elected. He told the CDT is was “unfathomable that any district justice would grant bail in a case with these facts.”
Guen was a Penn State student at the time. A university spokesperson said he was excluded from campus and all university events, programs and acitivities.