YOUNGSTOWN Charges dropped, rape suspect freed

Prosecutors have been unable to locate the accuser, a 7-year-old boy.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- After waiting in jail more than three years to face rape charges against him, Derek Gibson got his day in court.
At a hearing Monday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, Gibson, of Youngstown, was set free after the charges against him were dropped by the prosecutor's office.
"There was nothing else I could do at this point," said assistant prosecutor Dawn Krueger. "I hated doing it."
Krueger said she has been unable to locate the accuser or his family for months. They've apparently moved to Pennsylvania and have not responded to telephone calls, letters and subpoenas from her office.
"They don't seem terribly interested in pursuing this," Krueger said. "Essentially, without them, I can't proceed. And if I can't prove this case, there's no sense keeping [Gibson] in jail any longer."
She asked that the charges be dismissed without prejudice, meaning they can be filed again if the victim is located and will cooperate.
Ohio has a 20-year statute of limitation on rape charges, Krueger said.
Indicted in 2000
Gibson, 48, was indicted by a grand jury in July 2000 on three counts of rape. Krueger said the charges involved a 7-year-old boy. Gibson could have been sentenced to life in prison if he'd been convicted.
The Mahoning County Violent Crimes Task Force found and arrested Gibson in August 2000, and he's been in jail ever since, unable to post the $50,000 bond that Judge Robert Lisotto of common pleas court had set for each count.
In October 2000, Gibson voluntarily waived his constitutional right to a speedy trial, which would have required prosecutors to try his case within 90 days.
In December 2002, Gibson told The Vindicator that he didn't realize his case would take so long to make it to trial.
"If the trial had been within one year, that would have been acceptable. What if I'm found innocent? They can't compensate me for all this time; that's the tragic part of it," Gibson said then.
Postponements
According to court records, the case has been set for trial 12 times since October 2000 but was postponed each time for various reasons.
Defense attorney James Gentile said he asked for two continuances right off the bat because he needed more time to prepare and investigate the case.
One postponement was requested by the prosecutor's office, three were jointly requested by lawyers from both sides and four were because Judge Lisotto was already engaged in trying another case.
The last two trial dates, including Monday, were postponed because of the unavailability of the witnesses.
"It's not a case that was neglected or forgotten about," Gentile said. "There were always things being done."
He said some of the continuances were because the lawyers were in the process of plea bargaining and needed more time to gather medical records and other information. Gibson never would accept a plea bargain, though, because he insisted he was innocent, Gentile said.
Didn't want to rush
Because the charges and the potential penalty were so severe, Gentile said Gibson did not want to rush the case into the courtroom.
"He was patient, but he wanted his day in court," Gentile said.
Once he realized that the accuser and his family were gone and could not be located, Gentile started pressing prosecutors to drop the charges.
bjackson@vindy.com