Man convicted of sexually assaulting child loses appeal

A Jackson County man lost his appeal to have his conviction on sex charges overturned.

Jacob Scott was sentenced in 2022 to 85 years in prison. He was convicted of four counts of touching a child for lustful purposes, nine counts of sexual battery and one count of exploitation of a child. He also was convicted of faking his death in Alabama later that year and sentenced to 21 months for that crime.

He was charged with abusing a then-14-year-old girl starting in 2016 until she became pregnant in 2017 and told her sister what had happened.

Scott then fled Jackson County in 2018 and faked his death. He was found and arrested in Oklahoma in 2020.

He went to trial in Jackson County in 2022. The court denied his change of venue, finding no evidence to support the request.

Scott appealed the circuit court decision, saying he was denied a change of venue and should have the verdict overturned.

The appeals court found no reversible error by the Jackson County Circuit Court and affirmed the conviction and sentences.

Jacob Scott