Sex crime against autistic child leads to jail time
By MATT PHELPS
Kirkland Reporter Staff Writer
May 11, 2009 · 7:51 PM
Thomas A. Gill, co-founder of Kirkland-based Attachment Center Northwest, was sentenced to five months in jail and a two-year suspended sentence Friday after pleading guilty to sex crimes involving a 15-year old male client. Gill, 63, is a former social worker who counseled children with autism. After being found naked with an autistic teen in his Mercer Island home, he was charged last year with indecent liberties and communication with a minor for immoral purposes. Gill's social-work license was suspended by the Department of Health.
Gill had been counseling the 15-year-old for three years including with the boys spending the night at his home according to court records. The boy told police that Gill taught him how to put a condom on, talked about sex and touched his penis, according to court documents filed in King County Superior Court.
Superior Court Judge William Downing suspended most of the sentence on condition that Gill receive sexual deviancy treatment.
Contact Kirkland Reporter Staff Writer Matt Phelps at mphelps@kirklandreporter.com or 425-822-9166 ext. 5052.Comment on this story.
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