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Sex offender gets six years in prison
YOUNGSTOWN
A 46-year-old North Side man has been sentenced to six years in prison after he entered an Alford plea to voyeurism, gross sexual imposition and sexual battery, with three different female minors listed as victims.
Ronald D. Gibson, of Margaret Avenue, who had no prior felony record, drew the sentence Thursday from Judge Shirley J. Christian of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
All the crimes occurred at a Matta Avenue residence on the West Side.
In an Alford plea, the defendant does not admit guilt, but admits the evidence is sufficient for a jury to find him guilty.
In the plea deal, the prosecution recommended a seven-year prison term.
The voyeurism charge said Gibson surreptitiously made a video recording showing the bare buttocks of a 16-year-old girl for his sexual gratification while she used the bathroom on Oct. 8, 2013.
“The incident with the camera – it was idiotic on my part. It was not meant for any kind of gratification whatsoever,” Gibson told the judge, without explaining to her the rationale for the camera.
The woman, now a college student, who was recorded in the bathroom, told Judge Christian she now fears using restrooms “especially in public or unfamiliar places.”
She added: “He took my privacy away from me. ... I hope he gets whatever he deserves.”
The gross sexual imposition charge pertains to Gibson’s having sexual contact with an 8-year-old girl between Dec. 19, 2011, and Feb. 28, 2012.
The sexual-battery charge pertains to Gibson’s furnishing alcohol to a girl, while she was 15 and 16 years old, between April 1 and Oct. 31, 2012, removing her clothing and fondling her in the bathtub while she was intoxicated.
In the plea deal, the sexual battery charge was substituted for a rape charge that appeared in the indictment.
Another rape count and two additional gross sexual imposition counts in the indictment were dropped in the plea agreement.
Gibson will be on post-release control for five years after prison. He will have to register as a sex offender quarterly with the sheriff for life.