Man sentenced as part of Pierce County sex sting

A man arrested as part of a Pierce County online sex sting has been sentenced to at least seven years, one month in prison.

A jury last month found Eric Kermit Jacobson, 49, guilty of first-degree attempted child rape and attempted commercial sex abuse of a minor.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Ronald Culpepper sentenced Jacobson on Dec. 2. After he serves his sentence, the state’s Indeterminate Sentence Review Board will decide if and when he will be released.

Jacobson was one of 10 arrested as part of the sting, which happened about a year ago when undercover detectives pretended to be underage girls or parents selling their children for sex online.

Jacobson thought he was talking with the mother of three young girls.

According to charging papers, he arranged to pay for sex with an 11-year-old, and when he showed up, officers arrested him and found he had candy and condoms.

His family wrote the court that he struggled after the deaths in 2000 of twin sons born prematurely. He lost a third baby to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome about six years later.

“He would never ever take advantage of a minor in any way,” wrote his mother, Carol Jacobson. “Eric is a good man.”

Jacobson also wrote the court regarding his sentencing.

“I chose to put my fate in the hands of unknown people, because of my belief in my innocence,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, these jurors saw differently.”

This story was originally published December 9, 2016 at 2:06 PM with the headline "Man sentenced as part of Pierce County sex sting."