The Nebraska Supreme Court has reversed a lower court’s ruling that found an airman’s sentence for attempted child sex assault too lenient.
The decision came in the case of 42-year-old Jason Gibson, who was stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in 2017 when he contacted a then-18-year-old DeArch Stubblefield and set up sex with a 15-year-old girl. Gibson was later sentenced to six months in jail and five years’ probation, with the judge noting Gibson’s military service and lack of criminal history.
Prosecutors appealed, and the Nebraska Court of Appeals in November agreed that Gibson should be resentenced to prison.
But on Friday, the Nebraska Supreme Court reversed the appeals court’s finding, saying that while the sentence was lenient, it was not “clearly against justice or conscience, reason and evidence.”
Stubblefield, who was a star football player for Bellevue West and also had no criminal history, was sentenced to up to 40 years in prison for his role.
