photo by: Mugshot courtesy of the Kansas Sex Offender Registry

Trey Gibson is pictured with the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.

A Lawrence man who was granted five years of probation in lieu of a 10.5-year prison sentence for a child sex crime has avoided prison for a third time despite chronic drug use and having been kicked out of a second treatment facility.

The man, Trey Gibson, 22, was convicted of one count of felony indecent liberties with a child and one count of felony criminal threat, after pleading no contest to the crimes in April of 2022. Gibson’s plea agreement with the state saw felony charges of rape, kidnapping, aggravated criminal sodomy and possession of child pornography dismissed as part of the plea, as the Journal-World reported. Judge Stacey Donovan granted Gibson a dispositional departure at his sentencing hearing, suspending his 10.5-year prison sentence to five years of probation.

photo by: Contributed Photo

Stacey Donovan

Gibson was bound over for trial after a girl testified in November of 2021 that when she was 14, Gibson reached out to her to meet up to smoke marijuana. But when they met at Lyons Park in North Lawrence, he allegedly demanded she get in his car, drove her to the parking garage next to the Lawrence Public Library and sexually assaulted her.

On Monday, the court heard evidence that Gibson had violated several terms of his probation. Gibson had a similar hearing in December of 2023 after he had been kicked out of a sex-offender treatment program, failed numerous drug screens and allegedly texted sexual messages to underage women at work and being fired for it, as the Journal-World reported. Donovan had allowed Gibson to remain on probation at that time and ordered him to re-engage in sex offender and substance abuse treatment.

Gibson’s new violations were detailed by his probation officer, Catherine Darrah, who said that since December Gibson has been kicked out of another treatment facility, but this time it was a drug treatment facility, Mirrors, in Topeka. She said he was kicked out of the program in February after he was caught in the bedroom of a female inpatient engaging in sexual activities. Being in the woman’s room and sexual relations were against facility policies, Darrah said.

Darrah said that Gibson had followed the court’s directives to re-engage with sex-offender treatment in March but that when an evaluator with Hope Harbor in Kansas City had begun his initial inquiry, Gibson was not forthcoming with accurate information about his criminal history. When the evaluator learned of the disparities between what Gibson had told him and what was in the court records, the evaluator withdrew from Gibson’s case and declined to work with Gibson.

Gibson’s new attorney, Hatem Chahine, acknowledged that Gibson has had a rocky start but said he has since come into compliance. Chahine said that Gibson was able to re-enroll with Mirrors and has since completed inpatient treatment in Newton. He said that Gibson was also able to connect with another psychologist, Seth Wescott from Hope Harbor, and is now in sex-offender treatment. Gibson’s latest sex-offender evaluation placed him in the highest risk category for recidivism, Wescott said on Monday.

Darrah said that Gibson has also failed to maintain employment while on probation. Chahine presented a letter to the court from the Social Security Administration from April that said that Gibson has been deemed to be fully disabled due to PTSD, Borderline Personality Disorder, depression, obesity and cannabis dependence. Darrah said she had seen a version of the letter before but that the letter does not say Gibson has been formally awarded disability nor did the letter say if he would be unable to work.

Darrah said that despite Gibson having completed inpatient treatment for drug abuse and being actively engaged in treatment, he has yet to pass a drug test in the last 18 months. The state, represented by Assistant District Attorney Brian Deiter, said that continued use of drugs after and during treatment was more than an issue of relapse, but rather willful defiance of the court’s order and a sign that the treatment was ineffective.

“There hasn’t been any real effort beyond lip service to the court,” Deiter said.

Chahine noted that the drug screens that Gibson has failed were all for marijuana. He said that Gibson is fully aware of his problem with marijuana and that Gibson is working with his counselors to find the root causes of his addiction.

Darrah said that she recommended Gibson’s probation be revoked because he has not been amenable to clear and honest communication.

Deiter said that Gibson is currently engaging in treatment only an effort to avoid punishment. He said that Gibson had asked for probation instead of prison but has again and again shown he is not a good candidate two years into his five-year term.

“This was a departure sentence. He was granted mercy once, twice; how many times will we have to do this?” Deiter asked the court.

Deiter’s argument echoed a previous prosecutor on the case, former Senior Assistant District Attorney Nick Vrana, who at Gibson’s sentencing hearing in June 2022, objected to the departure to probation because of Gibson having been convicted of sex crimes against three women as a juvenile.

“How many more must he abuse before he goes to prison?” Vrana said at that hearing.

Gibson addressed the court on Monday and explained that he used marijuana to treat his PTSD symptoms and that he has arranged to return to inpatient treatment at the end of August. He said the Mirrors treatment facility in Topeka did not work out for him because he felt like members of the staff were targeting him because of his crimes. He did not address the allegation that he was engaged in sexual activity with another patient.

Gibson said that he learned a lot in at the Newton facility but that relapses happen and that they are a part of the journey. He said since he has been on probation he has applied at over 100 jobs and hopes he will eventually find part time work and that he wants to enroll in school.

“I want to be a flourishing member of my community,” Gibson said.

Donovan said that of the violations that Gibson was accused of, the only outstanding violation was continued use of marijuana; on the remaining issues he has come into compliance and is actively engaged in both sex-offender and drug treatment. She said she expected Gibson to continue to address his marijuana problem and at this time that issue was not enough of a reason to send him to prison.