Judge denies motion to ease house arrest of Jon Jacobo

A San Francisco judge on Thursday denied a motion to loosen the home detention conditions forJon Jacobo, a once-rising star in San Francisco’s politics who was arrested on Aug. 5 for alleged sexual assault. 

“The motion is denied to the extent that it asks for relief from home detention and [ankle] monitoring,” said San Francisco Superior Court judge Kenneth Wine this morning. “It’s the seriousness of the charges that’s really driving my decision. There are a number of victims with very serious charges.”

Jacobo, a longtime Mission District community leader, was first publicly accused of rape in 2021. This April, he resigned from his executive position at affordable-housing developer TODCO, soon after three women accused him of rape and abuse in a San Francisco Standard story. He was arrested on Aug. 5, 2024. 

Jacobo today showed up in the courtroom in casual clothes and nodded as his attorney described him as a family man who only goes out with his partner and newborn baby. “This is not a man who wants to go places other than with his family. He is looking for exceptions for work and family,” said Martina Avalos, his lawyer. 

But the judge in August ordered Jacobo’s home detention under the “strictest conditions” he “can possibly impose,” and continued that protocol today.

Under those conditions, Jacobo surrendered his passport and is only allowed to leave home to meet with his lawyer, or for medical appointments. He must wear an ankle monitor, and can be searched at any time, without cause.

Jacobo’s three alleged victims of asked Elisha Jussen-Cooke, their attorney, to read out statements in court that asked the judge to keep Jacobo under house arrest. 

“I am writing to strongly oppose Mr. Jacobo’s request to remove his ankle monitor grant device and end his house arrest,” wrote “Victim Two,” who says she has been “haunted by intense fear of his numerous threats and senseless acts of violence” in the past decade. 

“Jon Jacobo is a dangerous man,” wrote another victim, who named “a constant battle between the fear and deep sadness I feel when I know there might be other women … I ask that this court’s original order from August be upheld in full.”

“On April 4th, 2021, my life changed forever when Jon Jacobo, a man I trusted as a friend, invited me over and raped me. On that occasion, I set very clear boundaries that Jon completely disregarded, raping me after I directly and emphatically said no,” wrote “Sasha P.,” whose testimony matches that of Sasha Perigo, the first woman who went public with allegations against Jacobo in August 2021. Until the ruling comes, “it is critical that he remain on electronic monitoring and on the strand device.”

Though Perigo mentioned a Sept. 28 Instagram post that showed Jacobo had gone to a Giants game with his partner and baby while under house arrest, the judge today said “Mr. Jacobo has done nothing wrong. He’s abided by the court’s order.” 

The sheriff’s department grants Jacobo four hours of personal time, usually used for errands such as laundry or grocery shopping. Jacobo’s attorney called the department’s language “confusing” and Jacobo was “told that they are free to go and do what they please for four hours.” The judge, for his part, agreed that the language was confusing.

The conditions of Jacobo’s home detention are “severe punishment ahead of trial,” added Avalos. “What I’m hearing is that they don’t like seeing him free,” Avalos said, while the alleged victims in the courtroom kept shaking their heads.