Child molester to serve no jail time

A Libby man facing up to 100 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl was given a six-year deferred imposition of sentence by Montana 19th Judicial District Judge James Wheelis Monday morning.

Jacob Laurence Nicholson entered a plea of no contest to a single count of sexual assault Nov. 16, 2015. The deferred sentence was recommended as the result of a plea agreement between Nicholson and the Lincoln County Attorney’s Office. While not admitting guilt in the matter, the no contest, or nolo contendere, plea is an open acknowlegement that the state has sufficient evidence to secure a conviction at trial.

Nicholson was arrested Jan. 22, 2015, and charged with sexual assault on a victim less than 16 years old, with the offender three or more years older than the victim.

The victim in the case is a 13-year-old girl whose identity is being withheld. It is The Western News’ policy to not publish the names of victims of sexual assault.

The charging documents allege that Nicholson, also known as Kelso, was invited to a hot tub at a local motel by the victim’s 15-year-old friend. Nicholson and the victim were together in the hot tub while the victim’s friend and the friend’s younger brother played in the pool with the four-year-old son of Nicholson’s fiancé.

According to the case report, Nicholson and the victim began kissing while alone in the hot tub. Later Nicholson began to touch the girl inappropriately. The victim’s statement said she pushed Nicholson’s hand away. Nicholson’s statement said he pulled away after the victim “tensed up.”

In an interview on Aug. 26, Nicholson informed the investigating officer, Detective Duane Rhodes, that he believed the victim to be 17 years old, based upon what she told him.

However, the 15-year-old friend reported to law enforcement that she had told Nicholson the victim was 13 years old.

After the incident in the hot tub, Nicholson allegedly sent text messages to the victim asking her to send him explicit photographs of herself, according to the charging documents.

The text messages between the Nicholson and the victim also refer to the incident in the hot tub. Nicholson did not deny any of the information from the text messages, according to the charging documents.

Nicholson will be on probation for the six-year deferral term. Any violation of the terms of his probation could send him to prison for the maximum sentence allowed by law for his crime, which is 100 years. 

One of the proposed conditions of his probation is that he not have any contact with anyone under the age of 18. Public defender Alisha Backus requested a modification of this term, as Nicholson is a new father and acts as father to his fiancee’s six-year old child. Judge Wheelis agreed to modify the condition in order to allow Nicholson supervised contact with the children.