Gibson back in jail after bond revoked

Gibson

A former Bowling Green coach is back in jail after he allegedly violated conditions of his bond and had contact with minors.

Wood County Common Pleas Court Judge Joel Kuhlman revoked Zachary Gibson’s bond Thursday after the state said he had contact with separate minors, including one of his alleged victims.

Gibson, 32, had been on house arrest at a family member’s home in Ada since Jan. 16. He was taken into custody Thursday and returned to jail.

He is a former strength coach who worked at Bowling Green High School.

The state had requested Gibson’s bond be revoked after learning he had allegedly had contact with an alleged victim in Wood County and a minor in Allen County.

Wood County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Charles McDonald said Doug Hartman, who is an investigator for the prosecutor’s office, was willing to testify Gibson had contacted a 17-year-old in Allen County in January shortly after being released from jail.

The contact was made with the Snapchat app, McDonald said.

Several communications were deleted and eventually the teen blocked Gibson on the app after receiving what he called a “gay chat,” McDonald said.

“That is communication with a minor that is eerily similar to the allegations in this case and a direct violation of the defendant’s bond,” he said.

His office also had been notified that an alleged victim in Gibson’s 2023 alleged rape case had received notification that Gibson had viewed his TikTok profile.

A condition of his bond was he have no contact with minors, which he allegedly did less than a week after being released from jail, McDonald said.

“He created a TikTok account and began to view the TikTok accounts of at least one of the minor victims listed in the indictment,” McDonald said.

The minor victim pulled up his TikTok account, where a picture of Gibson appeared with the notification that he had viewed the minor’s account, he said.

“When a minor victim opens his phone and sees a picture of the alleged rapist, that is a violation of that child’s no-contact order,” he said.

Gibson was first indicted in June 2022 for two counts of sexual battery, two counts of illegal use of a minor or impaired person in nudity-oriented material or performance and attempted illegal use of a minor or impaired person in nudity-oriented material or performance.

At the time of these accusations, Gibson was a strength and conditioning coach at BGHS. He worked with the baseball and basketball teams as an employee of Fastrak Performance.

According to this indictment, Gibson allegedly engaged in sexual conduct with the same 16-year-old.

He was indicted again in April 2023 for three counts of rape, six counts pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor or impaired person, three counts gross sexual imposition, one count disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, illegal administration or distribution of anabolic steroids, importuning, and two counts failure to comply with underage alcohol laws.

According to the indictment, on July 2-3, 2021, Gibson allegedly engaged in sexual conduct with the same boy, who was 15 at the time, and the ability of the alleged victim to resist or consent was substantially impaired because of mental or physical condition.

Jury selection had started Jan. 16 when the state announced it had found evidence that had not been shared with the defense. A continuance was granted, and Gibson’s bond was modified to allow him to reside in Ada while under house arrest. Conditions included he was not to have contact with any of the alleged victims of either case or any other minors.

The modified bond did not forbid use of electronic devices.

“Ill-advised for Mr. Gibson to be back on Snapchat? Absolutely. I don’t disagree with the prosecutor on that,” said defense attorney Sara Roller.

She questioned the TikTok allegation, which may not have been on purpose, she said.

“Some of it is still unclear as to who, when, where, why and how,” she said.

She said her client wouldn’t object to the court limiting his access to his cell phone, but to ask for a cash bond when it has not been determined the TikTok notification was on purpose was going too far.

“What we are alleging is contact with minors” on social media, McDonald said.

“At the very least, it is very bad judgement by Mr. Gibson,” Kuhlman said.

When McDonald offered to have Hartman testify to the alleged Allen County incident, Roller said her client should be able to confront the person who filed the complaint.

A bond and evidentiary hearing was scheduled for Feb. 29.

The jury trial scheduled to start April 18 was confirmed.