CANYON CITY — A Mt. Vernon man facing a 62-count indictment alleging repeated sexual abuse of a teenage boy pleaded guilty to seven criminal charges on Friday, Sept. 20, in Grant County Circuit Court.

Christopher Lee Gibson, 46, in what his attorney described as “a highly negotiated settlement,” entered guilty pleas to one count of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct, two counts of encouraging child sexual abuse in the first degree, two counts of third-degree sodomy, and one count each of luring a minor and first-degree online sexual corruption of a child.

All of the charges are felonies. The most serious charge, using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct, is a Measure 11 offense that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and 10 months in prison with a potential maximum of 20 years behind bars.

While judges are not bound by the terms of negotiated plea deals, the plea petition filed with the court suggests Gibson is likely to serve 12 and a half years, minus time already served since his arrest.

Gibson is scheduled to be sentenced at a hearing on Nov. 5. A trial that was scheduled to begin Nov. 12 has been canceled.

In his written plea agreement with prosecutors, Gibson acknowledged his guilt.

“I was in an intimate relationship with … an individual under the age of 16,” the hand-written statement says. “I took photos and videos of our activities. … I shared these images with others using my phone, as alleged in the indictment. This spanned a period of time from approximately September 2, 2023-October 30, 2023.”

The victim’s name does not appear in court documents, and the Blue Mountain Eagle generally does not publish the names of sex crime victims.

Gibson appeared by video link from the Grant County Jail with his attorney, Kati Dunn of Strawberry Mountain Law.

Judge Annette Hill also appeared by video, as did prosecutor Elijah Michalowski, a senior assistant attorney general with the Oregon Department of Justice.

Representing the prosecution in person was Grant County Deputy District Attorney Riccola Voigt. She was joined in the Canyon City courtroom by just over a dozen people, who sat silently in the gallery to witness the proceedings, which took about 15 minutes.

Gibson’s guilty plea came three weeks after his co-defendant in the case, Timothy Christopher Leffner, 35, of John Day, pleaded guilty to one felony count of third-degree sodomy involving the same victim. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop two misdemeanor counts against him and he was placed in a diversion program rather than facing prison time.

Gibson was arrested in early November and has been held in the Grant County Jail on $100,000 bail ever since.

He was initially arraigned on a 30-count grand jury indictment but was re-arraigned May 9 on an amended indictment that carried 32 additional charges.

Forty-nine of the charges were felonies, including 18 counts of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct.