Jon Jacobo, a former City Hall aide and rising star in San Francisco politics, has been charged with multiple counts of sexual assault and domestic violence, the district attorney said Monday.
Jacobo is charged with one count of rape by force, one count of oral copulation by force, one count of sexual battery by restraint and one count of domestic violence. Jacobo was booked into San Francisco County Jail on Monday at 3:47 p.m., records show, and is held on a $2 million bond.
Jacobo is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday. The district attorney moved to have him detained pending trial.
The charges follow disturbing allegations from four women, detailed in The Standard’s investigation, that ranged from stalking, harassment and threats to domestic violence, strangulation, sexual assault and rape. The women shared audio recordings, text messages, photos and other evidence with The Standard to support their allegations against Jacobo, some of which they also shared with San Francisco police.
Jacobo, who until April was an executive at the affordable housing nonprofit TODCO, had been an influential figure in local Democratic circles. In addition to working as an aide for former Supervisor Jane Kim, Jacobo held high-ranking positions at the nonprofit Calle 24, the Latino Task Force and other organizations, gaining a reputation as a charismatic, politically connected activist who appeared destined for elected office.
In 2021, Sasha Perigo, an advocate for affordable housing, publicly accused Jacobo of raping her months earlier at his apartment. In a social media post, Perigo linked to a seven-page document laying out details of the alleged incident, including what she said were test results from her rape kit and screenshots of text messages. Jacobo said the encounter was consensual, and Perigo declined to press charges, citing her distrust of the criminal justice system.
In the months following Perigo’s public accusation, three women filed police reports against Jacobo. The accusers, a former girlfriend and two other women who spoke with The Standard on the condition of anonymity, said they felt brushed aside in their attempts to raise the alarm about him.
In a collective statement, Perigo and two of Jacobo’s other accusers called the charges “a meaningful step toward accountability” and changing “a culture of impunity around sexual violence.”
“It took multiple victims coming forward about the sexual and domestic violence inflicted upon them by Jon, and engaging with the criminal legal system over several years for us to get to this point today,” the statement says.
“Many proclaim to ‘believe survivors’ in statements, but the sad reality is that this is often empty rhetoric. In practice, survivors are not believed and often discredited. Survivors face character assassination and retaliation, negatively impacting our personal lives and professional careers,” the statement continues. “And despite all of this, it is ultimately survivors who are tasked with doing the hard work of battling stereotypes, misconceptions, shame and power to seek justice and accountability for these crimes.”
The criminal charges stem from an incident in 2021. According to the district attorney’s office, count documents show an unnamed victim met Jacobo in 2019, and they developed an intimate relationship.
In February 2021, according to prosecutors, the victim ended the intimate relationship. In April of that year, prosecutors say, Jacobo sexually assaulted the victim in his home after she made it clear that she did not want sexual contact.
‘There should be zero tolerance’
After The Standard published the allegations against Jacobo in April, he resigned from his role at TODCO, a politically influential affordable housing nonprofit. San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said the department was working “diligently” on the women’s cases as pressure grew on law enforcement to ensure that Jacobo was held accountable for the alleged incidents.
The San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, the governing board of the local Democratic Party, announced a task force intended to help root out sexual misconduct in the city’s political circles. More than 50 people attended a hearing in May at which victims of sexual assault and harassment shared personal stories and called out local leaders who they said turned a blind eye to allegations.
Ivy Lee, director of the city’s Office of Victim and Witness Rights, who worked with Jacobo’s accusers before charges were filed, said “there should be zero tolerance” for sexual violence and that the criminal justice system makes it too difficult for survivors to come forward.
“I think when we say we believe the survivors, that has to mean something concrete,” Lee said. “The reality is we have a criminal legal system that is not friendly or victim centered. … It’s estimated that two out of three survivors of sexual assault don’t report, and there’s a reason why.”
Nadia Rahman, former president of the San Francisco Women’s Political Committee, said it was “surreal” and a relief that Jacobo was charged and credited the women who came forward with allegations.
“It’s been three long years, and a lot of us thought this would never happen,” Rahman said.
“I’ll be optimistic and say I hope that this particular case and this moment makes folks feel empowered to change their way of operating to create a safer culture,” Rahman said. “The credit goes to the survivors. … They pushed and pushed and could have given up, but they didn’t. Now there’s a measurable step being taken toward accountability.”