San Francisco Political Organizer Jon Jacobo Charged With Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence

San Francisco political organizer and former City Hall aide Jon Jacobo was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault and domestic violence, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced Monday.

The indictment of Jacobo, who was a leader at the affordable housing nonprofit TODCO until April, comes nearly three years after a colleague publicly accused him of rape. It also arrives as San Francisco’s Democratic clubs face a reckoning over reporting and responding to sexual misconduct internally.

“There is a culture of impunity when it comes to crimes involving sexual violence. The charges brought forward against Jon Jacobo today represent a meaningful step toward accountability and changing that toxic culture,” Sasha Perigo, who accused Jacobo of rape in 2021, along with two anonymous survivors, said in a statement following the indictment. “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.”

Jacobo is facing 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. San Francisco police arrested Jacobo around 2 p.m. Monday, according to a police spokesperson.

Jenkins said Jacobo is due to appear in court for arraignment on Tuesday.

“My office will now do everything in our power to ensure that there is accountability in this case,” Jenkins said.

Alondra Esquivel, president of San Francisco’s Women’s Political Committee, a nonpartisan group advocating for women in politics, said she was shocked by the indictment.

“This is one step to a broader way of changing culture and believing survivors,” she continued. “I’m hoping other survivors come forward and they understand the outlets they can pursue accountability through.”

Jacobo was considered a rising political star within the city’s progressive political organizing wing and worked with Perigo in the affordable housing space. Prosecutors allege that Jacobo sexually assaulted Perigo after she ended their relationship and made it clear she did not want any sexual contact. Perigo did not make a police report at the time of the alleged attack.

This year, accusations surrounding Jacobo bubbled up yet again after three additional survivors came forward this year alleging he had also assaulted them. Those women said they did report their experiences to the police.

“The criminal legal system is not the first choice any of us would have made as the vehicle to hold Jon accountable,” survivors wrote in their public statement on Monday. “But we are committed to this process as the only one available to us and to prevent other women from facing similar violence and abuse.”

KQED’s Sara Gaiser contributed to this report.