A 28-year-old Salem man has been sentenced to a total of 42 years in prison on four counts of predatory criminal sexual assault.
Devon Q. Gibbs had earlier been found guilty of the four Class X charges in a bench trial before Judge Mark Stedelin in June. All four charges involved separate acts against an eight-year-old girl.
Judge Stedelin gave Gibbs 15 years on two of the charges involving sexual intercourse and six years on two other counts involving other sexual acts. Under the law, all the prison time has to be served consecutively and Gibbs has to serve at least 85 percent of the term. He’ll also have to register as a sex offender for life.
State’s Attorney Tim Hudspeth was disappointed with the sentence. He had asked for 60 years in prison on each of the four counts for a total of 240 years. He notes that would have put Gibbs in prison for the rest of his life and would have spared other victims in the future. Under the sentence handed down, Gibbs will get out of prison in his mid-60s.
As a result, Hudspeth will meet with the families of the other alleged victims, seven and ten-year-old girls, to decide if the five remaining counts will proceed to trial to lengthen Gibbs’ prison term if he is found guilty. A decision had been made earlier to have separate trials for each victim.
During the trial, the victim testified via closed-circuit TV along with her mother, the former Amy Center employee who interviewed her, as well as Salem Police Detective Trent Swagler and a forensic scientist from the crime lab.
Gibbs took the stand in his own defense and denied committing the sexual acts.
Salem Police says the acts allegedly occurred over a time period spanning from January 2020 through August 2021. Detectives began their investigation after one of the alleged victim’s parents notified them after their child had come forward about what had happened to her. As the investigation continued, the two other girls came forward.
