Bail set at $1.5 million in sex-abuse case
Bail for a wealthy Lake Tapps pilot facing nine counts of rape, sexual molestation and sexual exploitation of two teenage boys was set Friday at $1.5 million by a Pierce County Superior Court judge.
Weldon Marc Gilbert, 37, who pleaded not guilty to all counts, was arrested in Atlanta last week. Authorities say he is being investigated for sexual abuse of at least 20 boys over the past six years.
Prosecutors, saying Gilbert was a “significant flight risk,” had sought $5 million bail.
Pierce County Deputy Prosecutor Mary Robnett said federal investigators, as well as detectives from Chelan and Pierce counties, are involved with the case and additional charges could be filed against Gilbert.
Gilbert, president of an aviation-parts company, became the subject of a police investigation early last week when an 18-year-old man who said he had been abused by Gilbert for years went to police after discovering that Gilbert had turned his attention to the alleged victim’s younger brother, now 13, according to court documents.
According to charging documents, investigators seized from Gilbert’s home floppy discs, cameras, sex toys, paddles, bondage tools, computers and two handguns.
In addition, police seized hundreds of videotapes and DVDs that reportedly show at least 20 boys and teens, including the two brothers, being sexually abused and spanked, according to the court documents.
The 18-year-old alleged victim told police he was befriended by Gilbert shortly after his father died when he was 12, according to the charging papers. He described being given bare-bottom spankings by Gilbert using an assortment of paddles and other implements. He also said he accompanied Gilbert on trips to Hong Kong, Thailand and Europe.
Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said that since Gilbert’s arrest, about a dozen additional people who say they are victims have come forward, and investigators have fielded scores of calls from possible victims, acquaintances and concerned parents.
Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com.
Information from Seattle Times staff reporter Jennifer Sullivan is included in this report.