Captain Monica Alexander
Government and Media Relations
(360) 596-4010 – office
(360) 596-4015 – fax
http://www.wsp.wa.gov
*** For Immediate Release***
Date:
November 10, 2016
Contact:
Lieutenant Mike Eggleston
Phone:
(360) 704-2422
E-mail:
Mike.Eggleston@wsp.wa.gov
Twitter:
@wastatepatrol
Second Operation Net Nanny Conviction for Sexual Exploitation of a Child
Pierce County – On November 4th, 2016, a jury in Pierce County Superior Court convicted Eric Kermit Jacobson for Attempted First Degree Rape of a Child and Commercial Sexual Abuse of a Minor. This is the second similar conviction within a month from trials prosecuted by the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.
In December of 2015, Jacobson was one of ten people arrested during a one-week operation in Tacoma called "Net Nanny" which specifically targeted individuals who expressed interest in physically sexually exploiting children. During the operation, law enforcement officers acting in an undercover capacity communicated on the internet with individuals and identified those interested in physically contacting and sexually exploiting children. The operation generated hundreds of responses. Of the hundreds of responses vetted by detectives, ten individuals agreed to meet with undercover officers posing as parents and children and were subsequently arrested for crimes such as attempted rape of a child, commercial sexual abuse of a child, and/or or sexual exploitation of a child.
On October 26, 2016, Jacobson's week-long trial began. The jury took less than one hour to convict him of all the charges. Jacobsen is scheduled to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. on December 2, 2016 in Pierce County Court. He is currently facing a sentencing range of 90 months to life in prison for both counts.
The conviction comes just one month after Pierce County Prosecutors successfully convicted Darcy Racus, 51, of on one count of Attempted Rape of a Child 1st Degree and one count of Communicating with a Minor for Immoral Purposes. Racus was the first jury trial for a subject arrested during the Washington State Patrol's (WSP's) Operation Net Nanny.
The "Net Nanny" series has netted a total of 63 three arrests and rescued 18 identified victims throughout the state by the WSP Missing and Exploited Children Task Force (MECTF). MECTF spearheads the multi-agency operation that includes partners in federal, state, and local law enforcement.
Commenting on the recent prosecution of Jacobson, MECTF Commander Lieutenant Mike Eggleston states, "We all have the same goal of apprehending those that express interest in leaving the anonymity of their home computer or device to physically have sex with our children. We do the best we can to identify the worst of these predators and put them away for as long as the law will allow. Net Nanny works because of common passion of all of our stakeholders to protect our kids from these predators. From the detectives to the prosecutors; if we did not have the support from all stakeholders involved, this great work would not be possible."
The funding for this operation was possible due in part to support from the public.
To donate now, please visit: http://www.wsp.wa.gov/mectf/donate.php.