A former coach accused of rape has until Monday to decide whether he wants to accept a plea deal that may result in a 20-year prison sentence or go to trial and face a potential 100-year sentence.
Zahary Gibson, 31, was transported from the jail Thursday to the courtroom of Wood County Common Pleas Judge Joel Kuhlman.
Wood County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Charles McDonald said the state had extended the offer for Gibson to plead guilty of one count each of rape, pandering, sexual battery and importuning.
Kuhlman said if imposed consecutively, the prison term could be a minimum of 20 years.
If found guilty at trial of all charges he is facing, the sentence could be more than 100 years in prison, Kuhlman said.
McDonald said the offer was open until noon Friday, at which point defense attorney Sara Roller objected, saying she got the offer Tuesday at 1 p.m., and spoke to her client on Wednesday.
“That’s a big decision to expect someone to make in that short amount of time,” she said. “The offer could have been extended to us well before Tuesday so that Mr. Gibson actually had ample time to think about it.”
McDonald changed the offer’s deadline to Monday at 11 a.m.
“At that point the offer will go away forever,” he said.
The state at that time will begin the difficult task of talking to the alleged minor victims about their testimony, he said.
It had been previously announced that there were three families involved in two separate cases.
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 Bowling Green High School and was employed by Fastrak Performance.
Gibson was never employed directly by the school district.
Fastrak has since closed.
Gibson allegedly engaged in sexual conduct with the same 16-year-old while he was a coach “or otherwise in a position of temporary or occasional disciplinary control over the boy.”
The offenses reportedly occurred in March and April 2022 while Gibson worked with the baseball and basketball teams at BGHS.
He was indicted again in April 2023 for three counts of rape, six counts pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor or impaired person, and three counts gross sexual imposition.
The rapes allegedly occurred on July 2-3, 2021, when he allegedly engaged in sexual conduct with the same boy, who was 15 at the time, while the boy was unconscious due to alcohol consumption.
On various dates from September 2020 to July 2021, he allegedly possessed or viewed material or performance that showed a minor in a state of nudity; created, photographed, reproduced or published material that showed a minor participating or engaging in sexual activity or masturbation; solicited another boy who was 15 years old at the time to engage in sex; and provided a juvenile with liquid anabolic steroids.
The two cases were merged for the purpose of trial, which is scheduled to begin Jan. 16.
Thursday’s court date had been set to discuss issues of discovery and address allegations by the defense that the state had not turned over evidence in a timely manner.
Since they were last in court on Dec. 21, the state has turned over several more pieces of evidence, said defense attorney Christopher Lawrence.
Kuhlman wanted to know if all discovery documents requested had been provided.
Yes, as well as other things that we were not aware were out there, said Roller.
Lawrence said they may be forced to ask for a continuance of the jury trial in order to provide Gibson with an effective defense.
“The state doesn’t believe that the items in question would necessitate a cause for delay,” McDonald said.
Defense had listed 10 items in a motion filed Dec. 27 to exclude evidence that had been turned over on Dec. 23 and Dec. 26.
“This sanction is among the least severe and would be appropriate given the state’s repeated failures to disclose vast amounts of evidence until right before a confirmed trial date,” Lawrence and Roller wrote in their motion for exclusion.
McDonald pointed out the phone dumps including Snapchat posts requested by the defense had been provided in February 2022. If there had been an issue opening them – as previously stated – his office was available to work through any issues.
“It’s not the state of Ohio’s responsibility to access it for them,” he said.
His office has provided duplicate copies for many of the requested items, McDonald said.
He said additional items of discovery the defense said they never received were accessed the same day they were delivered.
Lawrence said counsel was having difficulty compiling a timeline of text messages taken from the alleged victims phones. Data from two phones which the state had possession of since April were provided in December, he said.
He pointed out there was a three-year window of data he and Roller had to sift through.
Kuhlman said he would take into consideration motions made at last month’s hearing and will have a decision filed in a couple of days.
Lawrence asked for an amendment in bond to allow Gibson to reside with a family member in Ada while wearing a GPS monitor. He has been incarcerated since April 13 and remains in jail on a $200,000 bond.
“I don’t think he’s a flight risk at all. He steadfastly maintains his innocence,” Lawrence said.
Kuhlman did not address the bond request.
