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Police Say Fayette Co. Rape Report Was Hoax

LUZERNE TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- Police say a Fayette County woman claimed she had been tied up with a dog collar, cut with a razor, beaten and raped by a man who was dressed as a woman.

But now comes word from police that the whole story was a hoax.

Police say 30-year-old Leah Saluga, of Cardale, will be charged with making a false report.

She had claimed that a man walking his dog on a rural road in Luzerne Township, Fayette County, raped her in the woods last month. She claimed the man wore women's clothes, that he used the dog's collar to bind her and that he wrote the words "Dog Killer" on her arm.

Police say she eventually admitted that she lied and she actually cut herself. State police say she gave reasons for her false report, but won't reveal what they are.

Her family had no comment for KDKA-TV News.

Saluga, according to police, has entered a treatment program of some sort.

Some women who live in the area say they were on alert after the initial report.

"Everybody around here was scared," said Sarah King of Republic. "We were all watching out for one another and then we find out it wasn't true, and it's just ignorant."

Pittsburgh Action Against Rape is concerned that false reports like this one will discourage actual victims from coming forward.

"It just confuses the rape victims. 'Should I come forward?' 'I won't be believed,'" said Interim Executive Director Alison Hall.

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