JAMES CITY COUNTY, Va. — A man who fled from Williamsburg to Florida on a sailboat to avoid charges of taking illegal upskirt photos was sentenced Monday for a 1987 sexual assault cold case that he was linked to by DNA.
Earlier this year a grand jury indicted 61-year-old Richard Lee Gibson on charges of rape, abduction with intent to defile, two counts of inanimate object penetration, two counts of sodomy, and aggravated sexual battery for a case dating back to Dec. 10, 1987.
James City County police said that on that date, a man abducted and committed several sexual offenses against a victim in a section of the Midlands Apartment Complex that was under construction. Despite an investigation, police were never able to establish a suspect profile, and the case eventually went cold.
In 2019, the assailant's DNA was submitted to the Virginia DNA Data Bank, although no match was made. Periodic searches would be made to both the Virginia and National DNA Data Banks afterward, in case a match would be made at a future date.
Flash forward to October 2022, when Williamsburg police accused Gibson of placing his cell phone between the legs of an unsuspecting woman while it was recording. Two misdemeanor warrants were issued, but Gibson eluded arrest.
In March of 2023, a person spotted Gibson sailing a boat on the Caloosahatchee River in Florida, and, recognizing him from media coverage, called the Lee County Sheriff's Office.
Gibson was taken into custody in Florida and eventually extradited back to Virginia. Investigators said Gibson had intentionally fled Virginia in a sailboat down the Intracoastal Waterway.
While in custody, a DNA sample was taken and months later, triggered a match with the 1987 cold case in the DNA data bank.
Police served Gibson his grand jury indictments while he was still incarcerated at Virginia Regional Peninsula Jail for the Williamsburg upskirt charges. Earlier this month, he entered an Alford plea, which is when a defendant acknowledges there is sufficient evidence for a conviction but doesn't admit guilt.
On Monday, a judge sentenced Gibson to life in prison for the 1987 rape, with 35.5 years suspended for the 61-year-old man.
