OFFICER FOUND GUILTY OF SEXUAL ASSAULT

But In Two Other Incidents, Jury Finds Him Not Guilty

A police officer was found guilty Wednesday of sexually assaulting a
female motorist during a traffic stop, ordering her to expose her
breasts and offering to suppress a potential marijuana charge if she
rendezvoused with him the next day.

But while the Circuit Court jury believed Terrence N. Gilbert's
accuser in that incident, they did not believe the somewhat similar
accusations of two other women who contended that he wanted them to
remove clothing during a traffic stop in exchange for his help with
their drug cases.

Gilbert, whom a jury acquitted of criminal charges in 1997 for pulling
a gun on a teenager, displayed no emotion as Circuit Judge Jeffrey A.
Wagner announced the two guilty verdicts and the two not-guilty
verdicts after six hours of jury deliberations.

With convictions on one misdemeanor count of fourth-degree sexual
assault and one felony count of misconduct in office, Gilbert faces a
prison term of up to 23/4 years, a period of extended supervision of
up to three years and fines of up to $20,000. The acquittals came on
two counts of misconduct in office.

The convictions will end the troubled law enforcement career of
Gilbert, an officer for eight years, unless they are overturned
somehow on appeal. Although he was once commended for delivering a
motorist's baby in her car, Gilbert was frequently in trouble in the
department, having been disciplined at least 10 times.

In reaching the two guilty verdicts, the jury apparently accepted the
final point emphasized by Deputy District Attorney Jon N. Reddin in
his closing argument.

"There's no reason she would make this up," Reddin said of the
25-year-old woman who accused Gilbert. "No person in their right mind
or their wrong mind would make this up . . . and put themselves
through this (a trial) to face a possible criminal charge (perjury)."

Gilbert, 33, received his convictions for his behavior during a Jan.
25 traffic stop in the 4700 block of N. 37th St.

The woman, a waitress, testified Monday that while driving a friend's
car home from work, Gilbert and his partner stopped her for a traffic
violation. While searching her in the street, the woman said, Gilbert
fondled her breasts several times over her shirt and found $5 worth of
marijuana in her clothing.

After that she said he ordered her into his squad car and ordered her
to lift her shirt and bra up to her neck. He then offered to see that
she was not charged with a marijuana count if she met with him the
next day to perform a "lap dance."

The woman contacted police the next day and they had her telephone
Gilbert to set up a purported rendezvous. He was arrested after he
came to her workplace to pick her up.

"They were giving him a chance," Reddin said in his closing argument,
referring to the other officers. "They didn't take her word for it."

Testifying Tuesday, Gilbert denied sexually assaulting the woman, said
he found no marijuana on her, claimed she bared her breasts on her own
initiative and said he intended merely to go on a date with her.

"He didn't call her," defense attorney Gerald P. Boyle told the jury
in his closing argument. "She called him and then she called him back."

Boyle insisted there was plenty of reason to doubt the woman, noting
that she contended the traffic stop lasted up to 21/2 hours while
police records indicated it was about 20 minutes long.

Of the two women who said Gilbert propositioned them after an Oct. 13
traffic stop, Boyle simply said, "They lied."

Those women contended that Gilbert asked them to disrobe or fight
naked in the street.

Gilbert will remain free on a signature bond until he is sentenced
June 26 by Wagner.