The Supreme Court upheld the prison sentence of the convicted rapist

The Pennsylvania Superior Court on Monday upheld the long prison sentence of Michael Alan Hornick, formerly of the Luzerne area, who pleaded guilty to raping a girl.

Hornick, 30, formerly of Charles Street, was arrested by Luzerne County police in August 2020 after the girl was interviewed by a medical examiner at the Luzerne County Child Advocacy Center in Wilkes-Barre.

When police questioned Gornik about the allegations, he admitted to having sex with the girl once, according to court records.

During the trial, the prosecutor’s office claimed that Gornik sexually assaulted the girl for almost two years.

Hornick pleaded guilty to child rape and was sentenced by Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. on August 12, 2021, to six to 20 years in state prison. In addition, Sklarosky found Hornik a violent sexual predator who is subject to lifetime registration of his address, place of employment and vehicle under the state’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

Hornick challenged the sentence, arguing that it was too excessive and should have been less because of his background and abusive childhood.

A three-member Supreme Court panel dismissed Gornik’s appeal, which they called “frivolous.”

“…after conducting an independent review of the records, we find no potentially significant issues meriting further consideration,” the appeals court ruled, dismissing Hornick’s appeal.