Jacobsen is charged with continuous sexual abuse of a young child or children, a law first instituted in September 2007. The law, a get-tough measure on sexual predators, raised the minimum punishment on certain sexual assault convictions to 25 years in prison. Life without parole is the maximum.
Jacobsen, 32, is the first person in Bell County to go to trial on the charge.
The jury will begin hearing testimony after opening arguments at 9:15 a.m. today in 27th District Court with Judge Joe Carroll presiding.
The allegations against Jacobsen surfaced in June 2008 after a 13-year-old boy was examined at Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple. The boy told an investigator that Jacobsen had sexual contact with him at Jacobsen’s home on County Line Road near Rogers.
The name of another boy under age 14, who says Jacobsen abused him, was included in an October 2008 indictment that formalized the charge against Jacobsen.
Last year, Bell County investigators were in contact with Jacobsen and preparing to arrest him when he fled town with common-law wife Marilyn Wesson, 58, on June 21.
The couple spent 50 days eluding law enforcement officials. Ms. Wesson left a note proclaiming his innocence.
Officials believe the couple initially spent time in the Galveston-Houston area before crossing the border into Mexico. The couple was captured in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, on Aug. 9 as they walked their dog.
Jacobsen contested extradition back to Bell County. He was eventually booked into Bell County Jail about three weeks after his arrest. Ms. Wesson, charged with hindering apprehension, was extradited back to Bell County three days after her arrest.
Ms. Wesson remains in Bell County Jail and has been subpoenaed to testify in the trial. She is scheduled for a non-jury trial July 22.
Officials with the Little River-Academy baseball league relieved Jacobsen as coach when the allegations came to light. Jacobsen was dismissed from the volunteer fire department previously on an unrelated issue.
He had been in the area for about year before the allegations were made public.
