Owner of The Dusty Boot convicted of sexual misconduct
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A Bowling Green business owner has been convicted of two counts of sexual misconduct following a two-day long jury trial.
Thirty-year-old Christopher Gipson, the owner of The Dusty Boot located on the downtown Bowling Green square, is now lodged in the Warren County Regional Jail after a jury deliberated for nearly five hours Friday evening.
Overall, the jury trial lasted Thursday into Friday.
The two female victims have filed a lawsuit that will begin now that a sentence has been delivered in the criminal case.
In the lawsuit, the victims allege they were allowed into the bar under the age of 21, where they were served free drinks and taken to an office room and sexually assaulted.
One juror, Jeffery Molloy, said he felt this was especially upsetting to see the owner of an establishment abusing his own patrons.
“If you go out to a bar to drink in a safe environment, you know, where you can let your guard down a little bit, and you don’t usually have to worry about the employees who are serving you your drink or the places that, you know, people who own the place. This is a business to them. It’s a professional environment for them. And then for him to, you know, violate that kind of unspoken oath is just, you know, wrong,” said Molloy.
According to witnesses, Gipson referred to the bar as a “modern day brothel” while he was on the stand.
“He called his bar a modern day brothel. And, you know, he was told he was told like or not told. He was asked, you know, do you often exchange, you know, free alcohol for sexual favors, things like that? And he’s like, ‘oh, yeah, it’s equal barter,’” said Molloy.
Molloy says after it was all said and done, Gipson’s concern remained on his business.
“He didn’t show any form of contrition or regret or, you know, any form of apology to the girls. They were there during the sentencing and everything. Never once said ‘sorry’ or even ‘I’m sorry they felt that way’ or anything. It was just like, ‘I’m a businessman. This is going to hurt my livelihood and other people’s livelihood.’ It’s like, yeah, but you did a crime,” said Molloy.
A Warren County Courthouse official told WNKY that Gipson was sentenced to six months behind bars and will have to pay $500.
The lawyer of the civil suit related to the case, Gregory Troutman says, “We think the jury got it correct. We think this is a fair and just decision, and it reflects the facts as they occurred.”
Gipson’s representation has filed several motions, and he will be back in court on Oct. 14.
