Judge Relaxes Sex Assault Defendant’s Conditions Of Release

By Andrew Gorosko

WATERBURY — A Waterbury Superior Court judge has relaxed the conditions of release of a Middlebury woman who police allege had an illegal yearlong sexual relationship with an underage male Newtown High School student while the woman formerly worked as a NHS guidance office intern.

In court on June 2, Judge Frank Iannotti agreed to allow Jillian Gehrkens, 28, of 807 Long Meadow Road, Middlebury, to be away from her home for social purposes on Sunday afternoons from 1 to 5 pm, provided that Ms Gehrkens is accompanied by her husband or by her mother. Ms Gehrkens gave birth to a baby girl about eight weeks ago.

Judge Iannotti relaxed the terms of Ms Gehrkens’ limited house arrest at the request of her lawyer, William F. Dow, III, of New Haven.

Ms Gehrkens faces two counts of second-degree sexual assault, one count of risk of injury or impairing the morals of a minor, and one count of violation of the conditions of release. She has pleaded “not guilty” to all four charges. A conviction on a second-degree sexual assault charge carries a mandatory minimum nine-month jail sentence.

Ms Gehrkens is free on $25,000 bail and is under limited house arrest, having been confined to her home and backyard by Judge Iannotti for allegedly having had contact with the victim after she had been ordered to have no such contact.

Late last August, Middlebury police arrested Ms Gehrkens because the alleged illegal sexual activity between her and the victim occurred at her Middlebury residence. Newtown police had provided investigatory evidence to Middlebury police for their case.

An arrest warrant affidavit describes the circumstances that led Middlebury police on August 29, 2005, to arrest Ms Gehrkens on sexual assault charges for allegedly having had a yearlong sexual relationship with a male NHS student, who was age 15 when the relationship started. Police have not disclosed the youth’s identity.

Ms Gehrkens had worked as a NHS guidance office intern from January 2004 to January 2005. While an NHS intern, she was affiliated with Western Connecticut State University in Danbury as a graduate student.

Court Appearance

In court on June 2, Ms Gehrkens told the judge that she has a part-time job three days a week. Her limited house arrest allows her to be away from home for work, for medical appointments, legal appointments, and emergencies. Her whereabouts are monitored by the state via an ankle-mounted electronic device.

Mr Dow had asked Judge Iannotti to allow Ms Gehrkens to be away from home for social purposes one night per week, but the judge decided that Sunday afternoon was an more appropriate time for such activity.

The mother of the victim attended court on June 2, but did not speak in open court. The woman had private conferences with the state prosecutor, who then told the judge that the state opposed relaxing the conditions of Ms Gehrkens’ release.

Mr Dow told Judge Iannotti that Ms Gehrkens is not a “flight risk,” so her conditions of release should be relaxed. The judge responded that the risk of her fleeing the area is not the issue at hand.

The prosecutor argued that Ms Gehrkens has already been given sufficient latitude by the court in the terms of her release.

In deciding to relax her terms of release, Judge Iannotti stressed that Ms Gehrkens must be in the presence of her husband or mother when she is away from home on Sunday afternoons. The electronic monitoring of her whereabouts would be inactivated during that weekly four-hour period, the judge said.

Following a closed conference with Mr Dow and the prosecutor, Judge Iannotti said that unless the criminal case can be settled fairly soon by some legal agreement among the parties involved, the matter would be expedited for trial. Ms Gehrkens’ next scheduled court appearance is August 30.

After court, Mr Dow said it is unclear if the case would go to trial. The defendant is considering all of her options, he said, stressing that he wants to do what is best for Ms Gehrkens.

“This has been a trying situation for my client,” he said.

Mr Dow declined to discuss whether he is seeking to reach some type of plea agreement on Ms Gehrkens’ case with the state.