HANCOCK COUNTY — A man who just started serving several months of probation for a sexual misconduct charge has been denied several special requests for relief surrounding the terms of his sentence.
Terrell Gibson, 55, 500 block of West Seventh Street, Greenfield, was sentenced to 18 months of sex offender probation in April after pleading guilty to one count of sexual misconduct with a minor. His lawyers, Robert Elsea of Greenfield and John Thompkins of Indianapolis, asked Judge Scott Sirk of Hancock Circuit Court to show some leniency. Under the terms of his probation, he does not have to serve any of his sentence in jail and does not have to register as a sex offender.
Still, he’s not allowed to be around children under the age of 16 unless given special permission by the court; he can’t leave the state; and he’s not supposed to live within 1,000 feet of a school.
Gibson’s attorneys wanted him to be able to travel outside of the state for work; to be able to spend time with his grandchildren who are under 16 years old; and to continue living within 1,000 feet of school property. All three requests were denied.
“He has to do things exactly as every other person on sex offender probation,” Sirk said. “No exceptions.”
Gibson’s punishment dictates he does have to go to rehabilitation classes; be subject to searches by the Hancock County Probation Department’s special deputies; and have no contact with the victim during the duration of his sentence.
Following a trial last summer that ended in a hung jury and, later, a plea agreement, Gibson was officially sentenced last month after admitting he was guilty of one count of sexual misconduct, a low-level felony.
Gibson, who has lived within 1,000 feet of a school in Greenfield for years, might be required to move if officials from the district make the request. Officials from the probation department, at the judge’s request, will send school officials a letter informing them of Gibson’s proximity and details surrounding his case.
Should school officials make the request for Gibson to move, Gibson will have to live elsewhere while he serves out his probation.
“We will contact the school to see if they object,” Sirk said.
Gibson, who drives a delivery truck for a living, also asked to be able to travel into Ohio as part of his routine drop-off route, something he didn’t do while his case made its way through the court system, his lawyers said.
Probation officer Mary Kay Dobbs, told the court she had concerns about Gibson leaving the state at any time while on probation. She didn’t like the idea of him being able to travel into another state where local law enforcement officials would have no idea what he was doing or who he was seeing.
“As long as he’s on sex offender probation, he’s not allowed to leave the state,” the judge ruled.
The state originally filed 16 criminal counts against Gibson in 2015. Six of those — all accusing him of child molesting — were dismissed prior to the case going before a jury last summer; jurors were told only of the 10 felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor that Gibson still faced.
By the time of the sentencing, Gibson had agreed to plead guilty to one Class D felony of sexual misconduct with a minor — a lesser offense than what he was originally charged with — and admit he had touched the victim inappropriately on at least one occasion.
