More charges of sexual assault aimed at Sumner basketball coach
Nov 8, 2024, 2:32 PM | Updated: Jan 31, 2025, 7:33 am
A stock image of a gavel. (Photo: Joe Gratz via Flickr Creative Commons)
(Photo: Joe Gratz via Flickr Creative Commons)
The former Sumner High School head basketball coach charged with sexually assaulting his players is being arraigned on more charges. Prosecutors have now charged Jacob Jackson with 20 counts ranging from communication with a minor for immoral purposes to child molestation and child rape.
The new charges come after detectives say they conducted additional interviews with some of the six victims who claim Jackson groomed and prayed on them between 2018 and 2022. According to court documents, Pierce County Deputy Prosecutor Mary Robnett claims Jackson shared nude photos of himself with multiple players over Snapchat and asked them to send him nude pictures in exchange. Several players also claim in court documents, Jackson asked them about their penis sizes.
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According to prosecutors, at least two victims told police Jackson abused them at his home and participated in sex acts with them.
Jackson, who was placed on administrative leave in 2022 by the Sumner-Bonney Lake School District, has pleaded not guilty to all 20 counts. His attorneys have also filed a motion asking a judge to allow Jackson to face his accusers separately rather than simultaneously, claiming it’s the only way to ensure a fair trial.
In their motion, Jackson’s attorney said, in part, “… Mr. Jackson will have difficulty in defending on all counts simultaneously because of the multiple complaining witnesses and because testimony from one complaining witness will spill over as evidence to the other complaining witnesses’ claim.”
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One legal expert tells MyNorthwest the motion is standard and that, generally, cumulative testimony can be damaging for the defense if a jury starts to see patterns of alleged behaviors. Another strategy behind the motion is to make prosecutors try the case several different times and work with testimony that might be included in some of the cases but excluded in others. Robnett has filed a motion to deny the motion. A judge has yet to rule.
Several victims’ families have announced their intent to sue the Sumner-Bonney Lake School District. Their suit claims the school district knew about their concerns about Jackson’s contact with players.
Luke Duecy is a reporter for KIRO Newsradio.
