Jon Jacobo to be released on home detention in sexual-assault case

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A San Francisco Superior Court judge this morning ordered that Jon Jacobo, who has been incarcerated since his Aug. 5 arrest on sexual assault charges, be released on house arrest. 

The court heard arguments from the District Attorney’s Office that the once-rising star in San Francisco politics would be a risk to potential future victims if released, but ultimately ruled in favor of Jacobo’s release while he awaits further proceedings. 

“The defense is just grateful at this point that Mr. Jacobo is released, and that the judge was brave enough to stand up to the political pressure that I think the people’s office has caved to,” said Jacobo’s defense attorney Martina Avalos after the hearing. 

Avalos filed a motion this week for a formal bail hearing and an order releasing Jacobo from custody, where he has been for more than a week since his arrest. He was held on a $2 million bond and charged with rape, forced oral copulation, sexual battery and domestic violence, three years after the highly publicized rape accusations of local housing advocate Sasha Perigo came to light in August 2021. 

“I do think the facts are supportive of the charges. There’s no question in my mind about that,” said Judge Kenneth Wine. But, he said, there are less restrictive ways to protect the public from any potential danger Jacobo might pose. He said he considered an outpouring of public support for Jacobo and the “many great deeds” he had done in making his decision.

Judge Wine ordered Jacobo to be placed under home detention under the “strictest conditions I can possibly impose.” Jacobo will surrender his passport, and can leave his home only to meet with his lawyer or attend medical appointments for himself or his two-month-old child. He can be searched at any time without cause. 

And, since most of Jacobo’s encounters with alleged victims involved alcohol, Judge Wine ordered the defendant to also have an alcohol monitoring device placed on him. Jacobo, according to his attorney’s motion, has been sober for some 540 days. 

After the hearing, dozens of people who had attended in support of Jacobo, most dressed in white, waved to him excitedly. As sheriff’s deputies led him away to begin processing his release from jail, Jacobo, dressed in full orange jail garb, blew a kiss toward the audience, where his partner, Gabriela Lopez, joined other supporters in wearing white.

Today’s hearing gave a preview of Avalos’ defense strategy. Avalos not only claimed Jacobo’s innocence in court today, but attacked Perigo’s narrative of the alleged rape, casting her as a spurned lover in control of the sexual encounter and not saying “no.” 

“That demeans true sexual-assault victims,” Avalos said before the hearing. “[Perigo] stated, when she wrote the social media post, that she was filled with rage at learning that Mr. Jacobo had engaged in those acts at his place that he shared with his girlfriend. Sasha lets everyone know exactly what her motivation was for rewriting history.”

Perigo, in her initial accusation against Jacobo on social media, extensively outlined the encounter with Jacobo. She said she had consensually had sex with Jacobo on a previous occasion, and did agree to sleep at his home the night of the alleged rape, but that she had told him that she was in a relationship, and did not consent to sex. 

Avalos also went through a timeline of events, in which she discredited claims from other alleged victims who have made accusations against Jacobo. 

She said the District Attorney’s Office had three years to bring charges against Jacobo but chose not to — implying he was not a “danger” to society. The San Francisco Police Department knew about Perigo and others’ claims, Avalos added, but took no action. 

“It is both illogical and unjust for the prosecution to now assert that Mr. Jacobo suddenly poses a danger to the community, when there has been no new evidence since 2021,” Avalos wrote in her bail motion. 

Assistant District Attorney Katie Wells disputed this claim: “We can’t prosecute sexual assault cases without the participation of sexual-assault victims, and we can’t force them to come to court.” In April of this year, Wells said, when “Sasha felt ready to participate,” the office began investigating this case. 

Also in April 2024, additional victims came forward in interviews with the San Francisco Standard, but these victims’ accounts have not been included in the criminal charges against Jacobo. Perigo told Mission Local in August 2021 that she did not want to pursue criminal charges against Jacobo, but that she would reconsider if additional victims came forward. 

Judge Wine sided with Wells on this matter. “I certainly don’t fault the victim. And I do not fault the DA’s office for not filing charges until they had what they felt was the evidence under their ethical duty.” 

In the aftermath of the allegations, Jacobo resigned from his position overseeing the Department of Building Inspection. He remained with Calle 24 and TODCO until earlier this year, when he resigned following additional allegations.

Update: Jacobo’s preliminary hearing was scheduled for Sept. 18 in a brief hearing on Aug. 14. Members of various domestic violence and women’s organizations attended in support of the victim, wearing purple ribbons on their shirts.