Gibson

CANYON CITY — A 46-year-old Mt. Vernon man was ordered to serve 12½ years behind bars for sexually abusing a teenage boy and sharing images of the abuse online.

Christopher Lee Gibson, who was initially charged with 62 criminal offenses in the case, pleaded guilty on Sept. 20 to seven felony charges.

He was sentenced Tuesday, Nov. 5, in Grant County Circuit Court by Judge Annette Hillman, who presided via video link. Gibson, wearing striped jailhouse scrubs, appeared in person with his defense attorney, Kathleen Dunn. Grant County Deputy District Attorney Riccola Voigt and Oregon Senior Assistant Attorney General Elijah Michalowski sat at the prosecution table. 

About 20 people watched the proceedings from the gallery, most of them sitting on the prosecution’s side of the courtroom. The victim and his family were surrounded by a half-dozen members of Bikers Against Child Abuse, who wore black leather vests with large patches showing a fist with the initials BACA across the knuckles.

Following the terms of a plea deal worked out between the prosecution and the defense, Hillman read out the sentence for each count:

• For using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct, 70 months (the mandatory minimum under Measure 11).

• For encouraging child sexual abuse, 28 months.

• For a second count of the same offense, 40 months.

• For third-degree sodomy, 30 months.

• For a second count of the same offense, 30 months.

• For online sexual corruption of a minor, 45 months.

• For luring a minor, 30 months.

Hillman ordered that most of the sentences be served consecutively, for a total of 150 months — 12½ years — in prison.

Gibson, who has been held in the Grant County Jail since his arrest in November 2023, will receive credit for time already served but will not be eligible for alternative incarceration programs.

After his release, he will be required to register as a sex offender and will be subject to three years of post-prison supervision. The judge also recommended that he be barred from using the internet, not be allowed to have contact with minors, be prohibited from living within 1,000 feet of a school, playground or any other place frequented by minors, undergo an evaluation for sex offender treatment and be required to comply with all treatment recommendations.

Both the victim and his mother addressed the court before the sentence was handed down, reading statements about the impact of Gibson’s crimes.

The mother spoke first, painting a picture of a vibrant young man who excelled in both athletics and academics until his self-esteem was destroyed by a manipulative abuser.

Now, she said, her son “is struggling to maintain friendships” and “is always on edge.”

She urged the judge to impose a lengthy sentence.

“The longer this man is in prison, the longer (my son) has to heal,” she said. “I hope no other children were hurt … but I have serious doubts about that.”

Her son, who was 15 at the time of his abuse, spoke about how the experience had made him hate himself and “question everything about my life.”

Speaking in a steady voice, he talked about the pain of being whispered about behind his back and gawked at “like an animal in the zoo.”

And he shared his sense of frustration at being referred to throughout the court proceedings by his initials (a legal protocol used to shield the identity of underage crime victims) or by the labels “victim” and “survivor.”

“I’m a person, and these things happened to a real person who will never be the same,” he said.

But then he struck a more defiant tone.

“I will not let myself be broken by this man and this trial,” he declared.

“I am a fighter, and I will not let everything that has happened to me hold me down.”

The judge thanked him for his words.

“I am so proud of you,” Hillman said. “You are so strong to share your statement with me today.”

Gibson stood silently throughout his sentencing. He declined to make a statement or offer any apology for his actions.