A Carrollton man made his first appearance in Greene County Court to face charges of predatory criminal sexual assault of an individual under the age of thirteen.
As previously reported, Gipperich had originally been arrested for predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, indecent solicitation of a minor, criminal sexual assault of a family member, child pornography, domestic battery and providing harmful material to a minor. He has now been formally charged with three counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child under the age of 13 and two counts of possession of child pornography.
The three counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child under the age of 13 are associated with alleged actions taken by Gipperich in December of 2017, December of 2018, and again on January 11th of this year.
The two counts of child pornography stem from DVDs found during a conducted search warrant. During his first appearance in the Seventh Judicial Circuit last week here in Morgan County, Judge Chris Reif explained the circumstances surrounding both possession counts. One count is, according to court documentation, for possession of video footage of a child under the age of 13 engaging in sexual intercourse with an adult human. The other count is for video footage of a child under the age of 18 engaging in sexual intercourse with an animal.
Greene County State’s Attorney Caleb Briscoe explains what happened yesterday.
“We brought Justin Gipperich over for his preliminary hearing. He was present in court with his attorney – public defender Tom Piper – and is still in the custody of the Sheriff’s Department still on the original bond set. He waived his right to a preliminary hearing – which he has the right to do – and he entered a plea of not guilty, requesting a trial with a jury. We set the trial on our next jury date, April 8th. We have a number of high-profile cases set for that day, so I’m no sure which one will go first. But we’re working on resolutions in all of the cases, and Justin Gipperich is no exception. We’ll probably have another pre-trial conference after having one in February but before the April jury trial date, just in case any motions need to be filed or anything of that nature.”
Gipperich remains in the custody of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department in lieu of $250,000 bond. Other cases set for the April Jury docket in Greene County include the Adam Gowin case for two counts of first degree murder, the Jamia Ellis case for first degree murder and concealment of a homicidal death, and the Joseph Angle case for arson of his own home.