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PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A Maricopa County judge has denied a longtime sex offender’s request to end his probation after he admitted to molesting a 12-year-old student.
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The student is the inspiration behind Kayleigh’s Law, which provides sex crime victims with permanent protective injunctions against abusers.
In the judge’s 15-page ruling, she raises questions about how the probation case was handled. The ruling details years of probation violations, concerns about supervision and criticism involving decisions made during the offender’s time under county oversight.
Victim addresses court
“I am living proof that he is capable of sexually harming children,” Kayleigh Kozack said during a February hearing on a case that spans nearly two decades.
“I’m a victim of this man’s crime, but I am also a survivor,” Kozack said.
In 2007, Josh Jacobsen pleaded guilty after being accused of sexually abusing Kayleigh when she was a child. Rather than serving prison time, he was placed on lifetime probation under strict sex offender conditions.
Jacobsen asked a judge to terminate those conditions in February.
“Your Honor, I urge and ask that you deny his motion to terminate his lifetime probation and take an extensive look at the disturbing information within each filing,” Kozack’s husband said.
Ruling cites multiple violations
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge has issued a 15-page ruling denying Jacobsen’s latest request to end that lifetime probation.
The ruling cites that he had unauthorized contact with children, attended a father-daughter dance without prior approval and discussed sex education with his daughter despite restrictions tied to his probation conditions and violations, including chaperone rules.
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Experts weigh in
Beth Goulden spent nearly 25 years working as a probation supervisor and said this ruling shines a spotlight on the Adult Probation Department itself.
“Reading the files and really getting to know the individual on your caseload is vitally important to do so, so you know who they are, their risk factors,” Goulden said. “I go back to training and are they doing those things? And is there adequate management over these cases?”
Victim advocate Dan Lundell applauds the judge for making her concerns public record but said it’s disappointing these failures had to be pointed out.
“The frustrating part is that this is all an effort to get adult probation to basically do their job,” Lundell said. “It’s just sad that she has to basically lay this out on a silver platter and show them in the public eye that this case has not been handled properly and this is a risk to public safety.”
Jacobsen remains on lifetime probation under the supervision of Maricopa County Adult Probation. The department said the case file was confidential and therefore they could not comment.
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