GIRARD Man faints during plea to throwing semen

Gibson told the judge hedoesn't know why he did it.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- A 38-year-old Brookfield man fainted Wednesday before admitting throwing semen on a woman in a Liberty supermarket.
Robert Leroy Gibson III of South Albright McKay Road staggered backward as he appeared before municipal Judge Michael A. Bernard on a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief.
He is serving 60 days in the Trumbull County jail on similar charges imposed in Niles and Warren municipal courts and is on two years' probation.
Pleaded 'no contest'
Gibson pleaded no contest before Judge Bernard, who found him guilty. The judge sentenced Gibson to a 60-day suspended jail term and place him on probation for two years. He was fined $250.
"I want to control probation," Judge Bernard said, explaining that if Gibson commits a similar offense while on probation, he will impose the jail term.
As the judge was explaining the sentence, Gibson began to perspire and staggered backward before he was caught. After sitting down and being given some water, Gibson recovered in about five minutes. He was checked by fire department emergency medical technicians in the court lobby after the hearing.
"I don't understand my actions," Gibson told the court. He threw semen on a woman in her 20s at the Giant Eagle in Liberty on July 9.
"I want to get help," Gibson said with emotion. "I'm so sorry." He asked his victims -- all women -- to forgive him.
After sentencing, his lawyer, J. Walter Dragelevich, said there are no psychological treatment facilities for Gibson in jail, but he'll get help after he is released.
Judge Bernard said he felt "a little uncomfortable" because of the premeditation of Gibson's actions. "It's the insult that bothers me," the judge said.
What happened
Liberty police Detective Don Mills told the judge the woman was in the store when she thought something fell on her sweater from the ceiling. She filed a police complaint.
Preliminary tests showed the substance was semen, and he sent it for further tests at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.
Mills said that as other police agencies received similar complaints, he was able to identify Gibson through a photo array and eventually through the semen.