GREENFIELD — A sexual assault case that’s been pending in the local court system for nearly three years is finally being argued before a jury in Hancock Circuit Court this week.
Terrell Gibson, 55, 593 W. Seventh St., Greenfield, was charged in November 2015 after a girl told police she’d been abused by him repeatedly over a period of two years. The girl said Gibson touched her inappropriately, sent naked pictures of himself to her and forced her to engage in sex acts, according to court documents.
A jury of 12 Hancock County residents heard the first bits of testimony in the case as Gibson’s trial began Tuesday.
Prosecutors will work throughout the week to convince jurors Gibson is guilty of 10 sexual assault-related felonies, including counts of sexual misconduct and child molest.
Hancock County Deputy Prosecutor Cathy Wilson, who is presenting the state’s case, told the jury Tuesday they would hear from the alleged victim, who will detail the abuse she says she suffered. Her friends and family members will also testify about the strange relationship she seemed to have with Gibson and how her behavior changed in the months the abuse was reportedly occurring, she said.
And as the state presents its evidence, Gibson’s defense attorney, Bob Elsea of Greenfield, will work to poke holes in the story that prosecutors outline, as he tries to convince the jury that Gibson, who denies the allegations, is innocent.
There is more to the case than just the girl’s story, Elsea told the jury, as he asked the panel not to cast judgement on Gibson until the very end of the trial.
The alleged misconduct began in the summer of 2012 at Gibson’s Greenfield home, where the girl would often spend weekends, officials said.
The girl told Greenfield Police Department detectives Gibson molested her in different areas of his home, usually when his wife, who is unwell, was in another room or asleep, court records state.
He sent her text messages that talked about running away with her to have sex, she told police. When she started dating a boy her age, Gibson became jealous, she told police. He would regularly argue with the young man, especially after she disclosed the abuse to the boy, she said, according to court documents.
When questioned by police after the girl came forward, Gibson called the accusations appalling, according to court documents. He told investigators his accuser likes attention, can be flirty and gets angry easily, court documents state.
Jurors heard Tuesday from the victim’s aunt, who is her legal guardian, and the boy whom she confided in about the abuse.
The boy told the jury he first met the girl in the summer of 2014. As they became closer, he noticed and was confused by how regularly Gibson would send the girl text messages, he said.
He described some of the notes he’d seen the girl receive from Gibson as “rather sexual in nature,” he told the jury. When he confronted the girl about them, she became flustered as she tried to explain them away, he said.
Eventually, the girl called him crying one night and disclosed that for years Gibson had been touching her inappropriately and forcing her to engage in sex acts, he told the jury.
He encouraged her to tell an adult, he said; but when she refused, he didn’t push the matter, not wanting to upset her more than she already was, he testified.
The girl’s aunt said she learned about the abuse after she also confronted the girl about how often she’d been texting Gibson.
The girl had been getting in trouble at school for being on the phone during class, and her aunt learned it was Gibson she was communicating with, she testified.
She recalled once finding 37 text messages from Gibson on the girl’s cellphone that were sent between 4 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. in one day, she said.
She and her niece were discussing the texts when the girl confided in her about the abuse, the woman told the jury.
The victim’s aunt also told the jury about the difficult childhood the girl had.
The girl’s father died when she was about 2 or 3, and her mother “abandoned her” a few years later, the woman said. The girl came to live with her aunt when she was about 9.
“She’d been dealt a rough set of cards, would you say?” Wilson asked the girl’s aunt.
“Yes, absolutely,” the woman responded.
It took a few years for the girl to feel safe and stable, and the family sought the help of many doctors and therapists, the woman said. The girl was attending counseling before the disclosure was made, and she still receives some therapy, the woman said.
The trial will resume Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. in the Hancock Circuit Court. All proceedings are open to the public.