A Jefferson County Justice of the Peace has been "no-billed" by a grand jury on allegations that he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl.
The Jefferson County Grand Jury heard testimony and considered evidence Thursday morning surrounding allegations that Judge Tom Gillam assaulted the teen at least twice in April in an abandoned rent house owned by Gillam. "No-billed" means that there was not enough evidence to support the allegations and the case will not be referred for a criminal trial.
Gillam's attorney told 12 News HD Thursday after his client testified that he was confident he would be "no-billed."
"There was no sexual kind of DNA at all - it didn't exist," said Carl Parker. "There was just traces of DNA that says this young lady was present sometime or another in Judge Gillam's rent house."
According to a search warrant obtained by 12News, the girl was in Gillam's court for truancy reasons, and claims the sexual encounters happened at an abandoned rental property on Thomas Boulevard owned by Gillam. She told authorities they could find evidence that was left at the house after their last encounter.
The search warrant return says officers with the Port Arthur Police Department searched the house on April 29 and took evidence from the property including swabs from doorknobs, window panes and window ledges. The documents say napkins that the girl says contained DNA evidence were also taken from the house. The items were sent away for testing.
Judge Gillam has denied the allegations.
Walking out of the grand jury room moments after testifying, Justice of the Peace Tom Gillam appeared confident - but left his lawyer to speak on his behalf.
"If you let angry litigants retaliate against a judicial officer like this - none of them are safe it's a dangerous thing and it puts the family in a horrible horrible situation. If I weren't confident of Judge Gillam's innocence I wouldn't let him to the grand jury" said his attorney Carl Parker.
The grand jury was convinced that there wasn't enough evidence of a sexual assault involving a 16 year-old girl to warrant a jury trial.
The girl said she had sex with the judge at least twice beginning last April, at a property in Port Arthur owned by Judge Gillam.
Parker said the prosecution had no DNA evidence of a sexual nature - implicating Gillam.
"I can tell you from experience it puts you through hell to be accused of a serious crime and the grand jury is a scary thing because they don't find you guilty - they just say - well there's a real accusation and we'll accuse you and let some other jury figure it out - that's a terrible burden to somebody" said Parker.
A burden now lifted from Gillam's shoulders that parker says - will help him get back to work - as he continues to keep troubled kids in school.
Assistant District Attorney Ed Shettle tells 12 News that because prosecutors had not made any comments on the case before they would continue to hold their silence on this case.
