Woman testifies against Philipsburg man accused of rape

A woman took the stand in a chilly courtroom at the Centre County Courthouse on Wednesday, tearfully testifying against the Philipsburg man accused of raping her last fall.

Thomas Cyganick, 60, faces multiple charges stemming from events of Sept. 29.

In a preliminary hearing before District Judge Steven Lachman, the woman testified that a fight ensued with Cyganick after he wouldn’t accept “no” as an answer to repeated requests for sex.

“He tried to pull my pants off. He pushed me and I told him to get off of me,” the woman said.

However, she testified that Cyganick would not stop, and assaulted her over the course of seven hours.

“I was banging my feet on the floor trying to get him to stop, trying to alert the neighbors. I grabbed the phone and ran into the bathroom. He grabbed me and started slapping me in the face until I blacked out,” she said. “When I came to, I woke to him kicking me. I hit my head on his toolbox. I just wanted everything to stop. I thought he was going to kill me.”

Eventually, she said she did have sex with Cyganick.

“He told me that if I didn’t comply he would kill me, my kids and animals.”

The woman said she didn’t immediately report the assault to police because she feared for her safety, but once she went to work authorities were notified. She was taken to a hospital for treatment and examination.

The woman’s niece testified that she received a voicemail from her aunt, who had unknowingly called her and left a message during the alleged attack.

On the recording, which was played in court, a frantic voice could be heard yelling “get away from me ... get away from me ... stop it, stop it, get away from me, stop, stop, stop.”

The charges filed against Cyganick on Jan. 6 include four felonies — aggravated assault, rape by forcible compulsion, sexual assault and aggravated indecent assault; three misdemeanors — making terroristic threats, simple assault and indecent assault; and one summary charge of harassment.

After nearly an hour and a half of testimony from the three witnesses, the prosecution rested its case. Cyganick’s attorney did not call any witnesses.

The case will proceed to a pretrial conference and a trial may be scheduled for June.

Cyganick was returned to the Centre County prison where he is being held on $50,000 bail.

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 9:14 PM with the headline "Woman testifies against Philipsburg man accused of rape."