Former Customs Officer Jay Gilliland Sexually Abused His Own Daughter and Recorded It. She Was 6 When It Started.

 

Former Customs Officer Jay Bernard Gilliland Sexually Abused His Own Daughter and Recorded It

Jay Bernard Gilliland worked for U.S. Customs as a port inspector along the Arizona border.

His crimes came to light almost by accident.

In 2004, federal agents arrested Gilliland after finding him with two kilograms of cocaine. Investigators searched his computer as part of the drug case.

What they found was far worse.

Investigators discovered child sexual abuse material. A deeper search of Gilliland's Arizona home uncovered videotapes documenting the sexual abuse of his own daughter.

She was between 6 and 8 years old when the abuse occurred.

In 2007, a jury convicted Gilliland on an extraordinary 317 felony counts, including 174 counts of sexual conduct with a minor, 100 counts of child molestation, 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a child, and one count of child abuse.

Then came the sentence:

6,242 years in prison.

No realistic possibility of parole.

The number is almost impossible to comprehend.

But the number that matters most isn't 6,242.

It's six. That's how old his daughter was when the abuse began.