LOGAN — A 34-year-old Centerville man has admitted to driving to Logan to have sex with an undercover police officer, posing as a 13-year-old girl. Jacob Ray Banks has been in the Cache County Jail since being arrested during the sting operation, Dec. 16, 2022.
According to court records, Banks accepted a plea deal, Aug. 19, in Logan’s 1st District Court. He pleaded guilty to attempted sodomy on a child, amended to a second-degree felony; and enticing a minor by internet or text, a second-degree felony. As part of the agreement, four remaining charges were dismissed.
According to prosecutors, Banks began messaging the undercover officer in December 2022. When the officer claimed to be a teenager in school, he replied that it was “kind of hot.”
Banks reportedly sent multiple messages describing graphically what he wished to do with the officer. A time and location was arranged to meet in Logan. He later arrived and was detained by law enforcement.
While in custody, Banks was heard uttering how he had made a mistake and was going to jail. He later told police during questioning, he hadn’t done anything wrong and the whole conversation was just a role play.
As police questioned what Banks meant when he messaged the officer that it was “kind of hot” to be chatting with her. The defendant said it excited him because it was taboo that she was 13.
Banks remains in jail, being held without bail. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 30, and could face more than five years in prison.