ExSebastopol mayor suspected of sex crimes

Former Sebastopol Mayor Robert Jacob was arrested Saturday morning on suspicion of five felony and one misdemeanor sexual assault crimes against a minor, police said.

Jacob’s arrest came just over a week after authorities on March 30 received “information of possible sexual assaults” in the Sonoma County town between December 2019 and March 2021, according to a statement from Sebastopol police.

“Upon further investigation, the suspect was identified as Robert Jacob,” the statement said. Jacob was being held at Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility as of late Saturday afternoon, jail records showed. Police said no bail was set.

Sebastopol Police Chief Kevin Kilgore told The Chronicle that Jacob is the former mayor of Sebastopol, and that “As of now, the charges are connected to one victim.” A LinkedIn page under Jacob’s name says he is the principal of Robert Jacob Executive Consulting, which provides consulting services for cannabis startups. Records from the secretary of state list him as the president and secretary of a cannabis business called Responsible Patient Care Inc., which is identified in news reports as Peace in Medicine. In 2015, the company merged its two Sonoma County stores with Sparc, a wellknown San Francisco dispensary. State business records now list Sparc’s founder, Erich Pearson, as the CEO of Responsible Patient Care.

Pearson did not immediately return a call and text seeking comment Saturday. A call to Jacob’s cell phone went to voice mail.

Officers arrested Jacob on a warrant at 7 a.m. Saturday on the 7400 block of Woodland Avenue, police said. The alleged offenses include: making a child under 16 available to another person for lewd or lascivious act, committing such an act with a 14 or 15yearold child, distributing harmful matter depicting a minor engaged in sexual conduct, arranging a meeting with a minor for the purpose of exposing genitals or rectal area, and participating in sexual penetration of a child under 16, police said.

The investigation is ongoing, Kilgore said. “We’ll continue to see if we have more victims, and we would encourage anyone who may have information to please reach out to us,” he said. “It’s important to note that these are all sexual assault crimes against a minor.” The police contact number is 7078294400.

News accounts characterized Jacob’s 2012 election to the City Council, which chooses the mayor, as noteworthy because he was a cannabis businessman, the founder of a medical marijuana dispensary. He outspent rivals by running the most expensive campaign in city history to win, the New York Times reported.

Jacob served one term, which included a leave of absence of at least six months to deal with a family illness, City Council member Patrick Slayter recalled. He did not seek reelection.