Man Jailed for Laguna Niguel Jogger Attack

LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA — The man who attacked a jogger in a Laguna Niguel park was sentenced to four years in jail for attacking a jogger.

23-year-old Sean Luke Salaber was found guilty Sept. 7 of felony false imprisonment and single misdemeanor counts of assault, brandishing a replica gun and battery. Jurors rejected a felony charge of assault with intent to commit a sex offense and a misdemeanor count of touching an intimate part of another person.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Cheri Pham rejected an attempt by prosecutors to require Salaber to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Pham cited legal precedent in other cases which had a more obvious sexual motive in which the sex registration requirement was rejected.

Pham, however, denied a motion to reduce the felony count of false imprisonment to a misdemeanor and handed down the maximum punishment available to her since jurors rejected the sex offenses.

The jogger implored Pham to require Salaber to register as a sex offender and insisted that his defense of a robbery motive was bogus.

"He earned that stripe," the victim said of the sex-offender registration.

The victim said the defendant's claim of just wanting to rob a victim did not make sense since he was targeting joggers who don't normally carry a wallet. She also said he shook his head no when she offered the only valuable on her -- an iPod.
"Why did he grope my breasts?" she said. "He never intended to rob anyone."

The victim said the defendant was able to get away with a false claim of robbery because she successfully fought him off.

"My victory does not entitle him to his emancipation," she angrily said, her voice rising. "He'll be out of jail before the scar heals from my back surgery... because of your attack."

The victim's father, who is also a veteran, asked Pham to throw the book at the defendant.

"I'm not a soldier who lost my way," he said. "I am asking you judge not to lose your way... If he walks today, how is that justice. My daughter is fighting and I'm asking you to fight for justice."

Pham said she was "bound by the law" and had to respect the jury's acquittal of Salaber on sex charges.

"I cannot be ruled by my emotions or be simply arbitrary or capricious," Pham said.

The judge took issue with a probation officer's recommendation that the defendant be released and placed on probation.

"That would be a slap on the wrist," Pham said, adding that the probation report was "cursory and insufficient."

The judge said she also doubted any remorse the defendant has shown to the probation officer or through his attorney today in court.

"The court has serious doubts that his remorse is sincere," Pham said, pointing to a psychological expert's report that the defendant is "prone to be manipulative and lacks empathy."

Salaber's attorney, Sara Ross, told the judge, "Mr. Salaber is ashamed of his conduct."

She added that her client, "wishes to apologize (to the victim) because he is ashamed of his conduct."

Ross pointed out that Salaber would not turn around "and make eye contact" with the victim because of his "shame and remorse."

Salaber targeted the woman about 6:40 p.m. last Sept. 24 as she was out for her regular evening run in Aliso and Wood Canyons Regional Park in unincorporated county land near Laguna Niguel, according to Deputy District Attorney Heidi Garrel.

The jogger made eye contact with Salaber, who was standing along the trail near bushes, and to "be polite, she waved at him as she would anyone," the prosecutor told jurors.

About a half-hour later, when she was finishing up her run near where she first saw Salaber, she made eye contact with him again, Garrel said. She said the jogger grew frightened and picked up her pace, but Salaber caught up and tackled her from behind.

"She began to scream for help," the prosecutor said. "He held what she thought was a real gun at her head."

As the defendant held the air gun to her head, "he told her to shut up" and tried to cover her mouth with his hand, according to Garrel.

Orange County sheriff's deputies arrested Salaber in the neighborhood within an hour.

Ross countered that her client had just lost all of his money and robbed the victim out of desperation.

OCSD Booking Photo, courtesy