WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (WAVY) – Court records reveal new details in an alleged case of abduction and sexual assault in Williamsburg.
Richard Lee Gibson, 59, is accused of abducting and sexually assaulting a college-aged woman who was walking home on Prince George Street on Sept. 30. A grand jury indicted Gibson on several felonies on May 10, including abduction, object sexual penetration, and sexual battery.
Gibson was also charged with possession of obscene material and filming a nonconsenting nude person, but those charges were nolle prossed.
A search warrant obtained by 10 On Your Side’s investigative team also showed both surveillance footage and Gibson’s cellphone records put him at the scene of the assault.
Police searched Gibson’s phone and found several videos and images that appeared to be taken up the skirts of unsuspecting women. Gibson told police these images were taken at multiple locations over time, court records show.
Gibson’s phone also revealed internet searches for ways to secretly film women in public and how to kidnap them. There were also pornographic websites reflecting the subject of the internet searches, court records state.
Gibson was arrested in March after authorities received a tip out of Florida. On March 19, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office in Florida found Gibson out sailing in the Caloosahatchee River, after receiving a tip from a citizen who recognized Gibson from a WAVY.com article. The citizen had a conversation with Gibson prior to notifying police, investigators confirmed to WAVY.
Gibson was extradited to Virginia on March 26, and is currently being held at the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail without bond.
During its investigation, the Williamsburg Criminal Investigations Bureau (CIB) says it learned Gibson fled Virginia in a sailboat via the Intracoastal Waterway.
Gibson previously served 20 years in prison for rape. Two years ago, he was convicted of disorderly conduct in York County, after the charge was amended from simulated masturbation.
He was also a suspect in a string of offenses that involved looking up the skirts of women at the Williamsburg Premium Outlet in 2007.
