Man Accused Of Raping, Impregnating, & Kidnapping Teen Relative Caught Decades Later

Though the Jaycee Dugard case may finally be coming to a close now that the Garridos have confessed, but we’re not getting a break from tales of horrifying abuse. CNN reports that 63-year-old James David Gibson has been arrested and charged with raping a 13-year-old relative in the late ’70s and early ’80s. The alleged assaults first took place in Arizona, but authorities say after the girl became pregnant, Gibson kidnapped her and they lived together in Tennessee for an undisclosed period of time.

The woman only reported the crime in 2009, after she had moved back to Arizona. U.S. Marshals spokesman Chris DeRosa explained, “She didn’t tell anyone leading up to that, for fear of her life and her child’s life.” He said the victim didn’t want to tell her story until she felt both she and her daughter were old enough to defend themselves.

U.S. Marshals managed to find Gibson in Tennessee, but he refused to provide a DNA sample. They obtained a court order demanding he submit to testing, but when they tried to serve it to him they discovered he had fled the state. A warrant charging him with kidnapping and sexual assault of a minor was issued in March 2009. Eventually they discovered he was living with a granddaughter in Kentucky, and he’s now in federal custody awaiting extradition to Arizona. Thankfully, authorities were still able to track him down so many years after his alleged crimes, but the story is still tremendously depressing. The Garrido case garnered a tons of media attention because it was so extreme, but sadly these types of crimes are more common than we’d like to think.