Man Pleads Guilty to Sex Offense, Assault in Dating App Attack Case
A 28-year-old Towson man originally accused of attacking and raping a woman he met on a dating app withdrew his insanity plea Thursday and entered a guilty plea to felony assault and a misdemeanor sex offense.
The agreement would have Samuel Logue, who was accused of a violent, hours-long attack on a woman he met on Hinge, serve eight years in prison.
Logue originally was charged with first-degree rape with a dangerous weapon, second-degree rape, false imprisonment, multiple counts of assault, a firearms offense and malicious destruction of property, according to court records. If convicted of those original charges, he could have faced up to life in prison.
According to a transcript of the hearing obtained by the Baltimore County Courtroom Observer, the State's Attorney's Office will ask for a 25-year sentence, with all but eight years suspended, meaning Logue could face 17 additional years in prison if he violates the terms of his five years of sex-offender probation following his initial period of incarceration.
The state will also ask that Logue be required to register as a sex offender for 15 years.
Assistant State's Attorney Michael DeStefano said the victim was consulted about the terms of the plea agreement.
"We do not want to re-victimize (her) and have her testify in court, so we all agreed this was a proper resolution to this case," DeStefano said.
The victim told investigators she met Logue online in late October 2024. After the two met in person, she traveled with him from her home in northern Virginia to his home on Prospect Circle in Towson the following day.
Logue's accuser told police that on Oct. 27, 2024, he punched her, gouged her eyes, choked her and forced his fingers down her throat. The victim also told police Logue sexually assaulted her.
At one point during the ordeal, the victim said, Logue forced the barrel of a rifle into her mouth and said, "I could shoot you in five seconds."
The rifle was later determined to be a BB gun, DeStefano said in court Thursday.
The woman described Logue as acting like a "lunatic," cycling between rage and calmness. She said he barricaded her inside a bedroom by shoving a dresser against the door.
Logue originally pleaded not criminally responsible — Maryland's version of an insanity plea. He withdrew that plea Thursday and entered a guilty plea to one count of first-degree assault and one count of fourth-degree sex offense.
The state has agreed to request a suspended one-year sentence for the sex-offense charge and a 25-year sentence, with all but eight years suspended, on the first-degree assault charge.
Logue's attorney, Brian Thompson, said he plans to file a motion for modification of the sex-offense sentence to change it to probation before judgment, which could allow Logue to be removed from the sex-offender registry before the 15-year registration period expires if he successfully completes probation.
The plea is nonbinding, meaning Judge Mickey Norman is not required to abide by the terms of the agreement. Norman could sentence Logue to more or less prison time or modify the sentence in other ways if he deems it appropriate.
Sentencing is set for July 27.