AKRON, Ohio — A Summit County judge sentenced 34-year-old Issac Armour to up to 16.5 years in a mental health facility following an attack near an Akron trailhead in 2024.
Armour pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity after three medical professionals determined he was not of sound mind at the time of the attack.
It all happened around 9:17 a.m. Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in the 1100 block of Cuyahoga Street at the Valley View area of Cascade Valley Metro Park.
Akron Police said a then 33-year-old woman left a bathroom and was grabbed by Armour, whom she had never met, and he began assaulting her.
Good Samaritans heard the woman scream, and together they helped rescue the woman, striking the suspect with a rock.
A conversation with one of those heroes:
That victim, who is not being named or identified by News 5, spoke in court Friday before the sentencing.
"The use of 'not guilty' is undeniably hard for me to hear as he is most certainly guilty of something in my eyes," she said. "But I do see its purpose. All I can do is hope this sentence will help him get the support he needs so when he is released, he will never hurt another individual again."
Armour had been indicted on charges including kidnapping, abduction, attempted rape and two counts of gross sexual imposition.
"In that split second before he grabbed me, I actually apologized to him thinking I had walked in his way," the woman recalled. "I think about that a lot, how I had assumed the best. I struggle to do the same anymore. I flinch if a man gets too close to me at the grocery store, at the park, at places I’ve always loved or felt a sense of safety."
RELATED: 3 women rescue assault victim on Akron trailhead; hit suspect on head with rock
“After reviewing the results of clinical evaluations, the State accepted the findings of multiple medical professionals and experts that the Defendant’s severe mental disease prevented him from appreciating the wrongfulness of his actions at the time of the offense," Summit County Prosecutor Elliot Kolkovich said in a statement. "My thoughts are with the survivor of this incident as she continues to heal. I also want to thank the bystanders who stepped in to protect the survivor and stop the attack.”
The mother of three described how — just four months after giving birth — this whole ordeal took a toll on her family, but how she does forgive Armour for what happened.
"I absolutely refuse to let this dismantle our lives, robbing them of their mom and their childhoods, my husband of his wife and me of our identity," she said. "This has bent us but has not broken us, and I'm so deeply thankful for that."
Armour remains locked up in the Summit County Jail and is due back in court later this month, when he could be committed to a mental health facility for up to 16.5 years.
