HILLSBORO, Ore.- On March 19, 2019, Washington County Judge Janelle Wipper sentenced Leo Gabonia to 375 months in prison. On March 14, 2019, Gabonia was convicted of eight sex abuse-related charges including First-Degree Sodomy, First-Degree Sexual Penetration and First-Degree Sex Abuse. The case against Gabonia was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Chris Lewman.

Forest Grove Police first began investigating Gabonia in September of 2017 after the then nine-year-old victim made disclosures of abuse to a family member. That family member then contacted police who began the investigation.

Gabonia was known to the family and used that connection to gain access to the victim. Police learned the abuse began two years prior to the disclosure with inappropriate touching and kissing and quickly escalated from there. Based on victim accounts and the expertise from staff at Randall Children’s Hospital and CARES Northwest, police gathered enough evidence to move forward with charges against Gabonia.

Gabonia became very upset after the verdict was issued. He jumped on a table in the courtroom and declared he had nothing to live for. He then attempted to jump from a 4th story window but was taken into custody by Washington County sheriff’s deputies.

The Washington County District Attorney’s Office would like to acknowledge the work of Forest Grove Police Detective Charles McCutcheon for his work on this case.

Gabonia will be transferred to the Oregon Department of Corrections to begin serving his sentence.