To his titles of former Minneapolis park police chief to teacher to hockey coach to camp counselor to lawyer to trusted family friend, William Jacobs can now add child molester.
Just before his trial on criminal sexual conduct charges was about to start in Hennepin County District Court, Jacobs admitted Thursday that he molested the teenage son of friends over a 2-1/2-year period starting in 2007.
He also admitted he possessed child pornography.
In all, he entered pleas to three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and three counts of child porn possession.
"My long nightmare is over," Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman quoted the young victim as saying. Freeman estimated that it was over, too, for Jacobs' other victims, who prosecutors believe number as many as 30.
The boy and his family declined to talk with reporters.
Hennepin County District Judge Daniel Moreno will sentence Jacobs on April 9. The two sides agreed to a range of between 12 and 18 years in prison, with 10 years of supervised release after that.
The time period is an "upward departure" over state sentencing guidelines because Jacobs agreed the victim's vulnerability was increased by the fact that he was transported several hours from his home; because of the "degree of sophistication and planning" that Jacobs exhibited; that he exposed the boy to pornography; and that there were repeated acts of abuse.
Wearing an olive-green sweater, a portly Jacobs, 68, looked confident as he took the witness stand during the hearing.
But he bristled at questions from prosecutor Judith Johnston regarding the number of times he molested the boy identified as "Child A" in the criminal complaint.
"Is it fair to say that in 2007 you sexually abused that child on multiple occasions?" Johnston asked.
"Yes," Jacobs said.
"How many?" Johnston asked.
"More than once," he replied.
"Obviously, Mr. Jacobs, I'm going for a number," Johnston persisted.
"More than once is multiple, isn't it?" Jacobs snipped, earning a quiet rebuke from his attorney.
"More than twice?" Johnston continued.
"I don't know that," Jacobs said. He conceded that the boy would have testified to it being more than twice.
In 2008, did he molest the boy dozens of times? Johnston asked.
"No," Jacobs said.
"Five to 10?"
"Perhaps."
The following year, it might be also be "five to 10 times," Jacobs said.
According to the charges, the boy was at least 13 but less than 16 at the time the abuse occurred, and Jacobs was in a "position of authority" over him, in that he was assuming supervision of the boy on those occasions.
The abuse for which he was charged occurred at Jacobs' home in Deephaven in Hennepin County. Prosecutors also believe it happened at a cabin near Lutsen.
The boy said it started in the summer of 2007, when Jacobs took him on a camping trip. They shared a tent.
The plea deal means Jacobs skirted the more serious first-degree criminal sexual conduct charges he would have faced at trial. Prosecutors alleged - based on the boy's statements - that the abuse involved several forms of penetration.
Defense attorney Joe Friedberg asked Jacobs in court to confirm that it was his position, "from the first time you met me," that he was guilty of fondling but not of penetration. Jacobs said it was.
Jacobs also pleaded guilty to three of 14 charges against him for possession of child pornography. The three charges involved videos he had on his home computer of sexual acts between adult men and young boys, he admitted. He had been scheduled to go to trial on the porn charges in April.
Prior to jury selection in the sexual conduct case, Moreno ruled that prosecutors would be able to tell jurors about three of the alleged 17 previous incidents of abuse involving other victims that they claim happened.
Jacobs had been chief of the park police, but he also had a long career as a camp counselor, teacher at private schools including Breck and Blake, coach and lawyer.
After Jacobs was charged, police and prosecutors sought other alleged victims. Several came forward, and prosecutors sought to present 17 of their stories to the jury in an attempt to show that Jacobs has a long history of molesting young boys - and that the events alleged in the criminal complaint weren't isolated.
As laid out in the state's legal notice to use their testimony, each of the 17 alleged victims, who ranged in age from 7 to 16 when the alleged abuse occurred, claimed that Jacobs engaged in sexual contact with them during an overnight stay and that the contact began while they slept.
The earliest incident prosecutors documented allegedly took place in 1962 while Jacobs was a counselor at Camp Warren in Eveleth.
Defense attorneys Friedberg and Paul Engh objected to the evidence, claiming it would be overly prejudicial.
When officials began to investigate the molestation accusation, they seized Jacobs' computers and said they discovered more than 147,000 photos and videos depicting child pornography.
That search resulted in the 14 counts of possessing child pornography.
David Hanners contributed to this report. Emily Gurnon can be reached at 651-228-5522.
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