By Andrew Gorosko

WATERBURY — A Waterbury Superior Court Judge has relaxed the conditions of house arrest confinement now being served by a Middlebury woman who is facing sexual assault charges for allegedly having had a sexual relationship with an underage male Newtown High School (NHS) student while the woman was employed as a guidance intern at the high school.

In response to a request from defense attorney William F. Dow, III, of New Haven, Judge Frank Iannotti on October 28 loosened the conditions on the house arrest being served by Jillian Gehrkens, 26, of 807 Long Meadow Road, Middlebury.

Ms Gehrkens, who is married, has pleaded “not guilty” to two counts of second-degree sexual assault and to one count of risk of injury or impairing the morals of a minor for allegedly having had a sexual relationship with the unnamed student, which started when the student was age 15. Ms Gehrkens is free on $25,000 bail and is awaiting trial on those charges. A conviction on a second-degree sexual assault charge carries a mandatory minimum nine-month jail sentence.

Additionally, Ms Gehrkens is charged with violating the conditions of her release, to which she has also pleaded “not guilty.”

After learning that Ms Gehrkens had allegedly had contact with the victim after she had been ordered not to do so at her August 30 court arraignment, Judge Iannotti on September 16 ordered Ms Gehrkens to submit to electronic monitoring and to remain inside her house, other than at times when she was at work, or was traveling to and from work at Post University in Waterbury. Ms Gehrkens no longer works at the university, but is now allowed by the court to leave home for several hours a day to seek employment.

Newtown police arrested Ms Gehrkens on a warrant on the violation of conditions of release charge on September 19, after which she was arraigned in Danbury Superior Court.

On October 28 in court, following a private discussion among Judge Iannotti, Mr Dow, and the prosecutor, the judge agreed to relax the house arrest restrictions on Ms Gehrkens, deciding to allow her to go into her backyard at home.

Judge Iannotti agreed to consolidate all four charges pending against Ms Gehrkens in Waterbury Superior Court, provided that the violation of conditions of release charge arrives at Waterbury court without any plea in effect.

Ms Gehrkens’ next Waterbury court appearance is slated for November 28.

Mr Dow said he sought to have the conditions of Ms Gehrkens’ house arrest relaxed on the advice of her doctor, who believes that added freedom of motion would be beneficial for the woman.

Additionally, in a September 14 letter to Danbury Superior Court, Mark Leondires, MD, of Norwalk, an obstetrician and gynecologist, informed the court that Ms Gehrkens is pregnant.

Allegations

An arrest warrant affidavit describes the circumstances that led Middlebury police on August 29 to arrest Ms Gehrkens, a former NHS guidance office intern, on sexual assault charges for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a male NHS student under age 16.

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.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit submitted by Middlebury Police Officer Anthony J. Quicquaro, the victim had stated to Newtown Police Youth Officer Dana Schubert that he first started to become friendly with Ms Gehrkens in December 2003, when he was 15 years old, and that in mid-April 2004 Ms Gehrkens drove the boy in her auto to her home in Middlebury where the two had sexual intercourse, according to the court papers.

“According to the victim, the sexual sessions (as the victim referred to them) continued once or twice a week with regularity until November of 2004. At the conclusion of the school day, Gehrkens would drive the victim to her home in Middlebury where the ‘sessions’ would occur. Afterwards, she would drive him back to his residence in Newtown prior to his parents arriving home. At times, he would stay at the Gehrkens home and have dinner with Gehrkens and her husband Peter. She would then drive him [victim] home later. The victim’s parents were aware that Gehrkens and the victim had a close relationship, but were unaware that the relationship was sexual,” according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

The victim, who was 15 years old at the onset of the sexual relationship, is now 17.

Conditions of Release

In a statement, Newtown police said that following an investigation by Newtown police and Middlebury police, it was determined that Ms Gehrkens had twice violated the conditions of her August 30 release from Waterbury Superior Court, which included that Ms Gehrkens have no contact with the victim.

On October 24, Ms Gehrkens had a Danbury Superior Court appearance on the violation of conditions of release charge. She is free on that charge on a written promise to appear in court.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit on that charge, after Ms Gehrkens’ arrest, the victim initiated contact with her on several occasions via email, telephone calls, and a written letter.

The victim, who is identified as “John Doe” in the documents, placed a call to Ms Gehrkens’ cellular telephone on September 5 and arranged to meet her that night, which was Labor Day, according to the documents.

The victim met Ms Gehrkens at the end of his street in Newtown, where he got into her auto and they drove toward Bethel, spending about 30 minutes in the vehicle, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

The victim later provided police with a written statement detailing a meeting that occurred between himself and Ms Gehrkens.

The victim acknowledged that he had initiated the contact, but added that Ms Gehrkens arranged to meet him on his street in Newtown in the middle of the night, court papers state.

“She transported the minor alone in her motor vehicle for approximately one-half hour…she questioned the minor regarding his contact with the court system thus far, and…she subsequently dropped him off on his street after the meeting,” according to court papers.