Man sentenced in assault of minor
A Renfrew man was sentenced to county prison in Butler County Court on Thursday, in connection with an alleged sexual assault of a minor in 2014.
Luke A. Blackham, 25, was sentenced to six to 23½ months, followed by 84 months' probation by Judge William Shaffer.
Blackham was also ordered to undergo a sexual offenders assessment and any required treatment, was made work release and community service eligible and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.
He previously pleaded no contest to three misdemeanor counts, including corruption of minors and two counts of simple assault.
Blackham was initially charged with felony rape, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault without consent, aggravated indecent assault by forcible compulsion, corruption of minors, misdemeanor indecent assault by forcible compulsion, indecent assault without consent and providing alcohol to a minor after an incident on Dec. 4, 2014, in Lyndora.
As part of the plea, the charges were changed to the simple assault counts and misdemeanor corruption of minors.
Blackham was accused of assaulting a 17-year-old girl he allegedly plied with alcohol.
Police spoke to the girl Dec. 5 at Butler Memorial Hospital, where she went about 16 hours after the assault.
There she reported that she showed up about 11 p.m. Dec. 4 at Blackham's home on Randolph Street, believing there was to be a get-together of people, court documents said.
He provided her with alcohol and continued to pressure her to drink, and no one else showed up that night, she recounted.
The girl admitted being “out of it” from consuming alcohol. Due to the teen's condition, police said, Blackham invited her to lie down on his bed. He also lay on the bed and allegedly fondled her.
According to the girl, she told Blackham to “stop” several times, but she said he assaulted her, according to the police report.
Police charged Blackham after a DNA analysis of the evidence collected.
He was arraigned following his arrest and released on $25,000 unsecured bail.
The victim, who will not be identified due to her age at the time of the crime, told the court that she experienced physical and emotional distress from the incident, and will deal with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder for the rest of her life.
