GREENFIELD — A 52-year-old Greenfield man faces 16 sexual assault charges after a teenager told police he repeatedly abused her over two years, according to court records.
Police arrested Terrell Gibson early Friday; he is charged with 16 felonies, including six counts of child molest and 10 counts of sexual misconduct with a minor.
Gibson appeared in Hancock Circuit Court Friday morning where he pleaded not guilty to the charges. The judge set a cash bond at $250,000, and Gibson was still held in the Hancock County Jail at press time.
The alleged misconduct began in the summer of 2012. The girl told police Gibson touched her inappropriately, sent naked pictures of himself to her and once tried to have sex with her.
The girl told police she regularly stayed at his home in Greenfield at the time. Gibson molested her in different areas of the home, usually when his wife, who is unwell, was in another room or asleep, court records state. Once, Gibson touched her while they were in a car together in a hospital parking lot, waiting for his wife to return from a blood test, the girl told police.
Gibson sent the girl sexual text messages, some which talked about running away with her to have sex, she told police. All the messages were deleted from her phone, however, court records state.
When the girl started dating a boy her age, Gibson became jealous, she told police. He and the young man would regularly argue, and the arguments became worse when the girl confided in her boyfriend about Gibson’s sexual behavior, court records state.
Police questioned the girl’s boyfriend. He told them he thought the relationship his girlfriend and Gibson had was strange, and text messages Gibson sent her were “oddly possessive,” court records state. The boy said he had seen messages where Gibson appeared to be bribing the girl to come over to his home; Gibson would say he’d let her drive his truck if she came over or that he would take her to see horses, the boy told police.
When police quested Gibson, he called the accusations appalling, according to court records.
Gibson told police his accuser likes attention, can be flirty and gets angry easily, court records state. He also changed the subject several times during his interview with police, records show.
He denied sending the girl pictures of himself but nodded in agreement when police asked if things had gone too far between them, court records state.