Convicted Sex Offender Will Not Go To Jail

Hillsboro, Ore. — A man convicted of Unlawful Sexual Penetration in the First Degree, will not go to prison.

Washington County Judge Andrew Erwin sentenced John Gilbreath, a former daycare worker, to five years of probation with credit for time served.

Gilbreath was on trial for sexually abusing a three-year-old child a the Partridge House daycare in Beaverton.

Gilbreath faced a mandatory 25-year minimum prison sentence under the sentencing guidelines of Oregon’s “Jessica’s Law”

Judge Erwin however determined that a 25-year prison sentence would be unconstitutional in Gilbreath’s case because there was not sufficient evidence to prove that Gilbreath’s actions were done with a sexual intent.  Gilbreath will be required to register as a sex offender and while he is on probation he will undergo sex offender treatment and be forbidden to have contact with minors.

The Washington County District Attorney’s office says this case highlights the challenges of addressing child sex abuse when often the only evidence of the crime is the statements of a very young child victim.

Oregon’s “Jessica’s Law” is the name used to refer to a law that requires minimum sentences for certain sex crimes against young children.