LOGAN — A 34-year-old Centerville man is headed to prison for driving to Logan to have sex with an undercover police officer, posing as a 13-year-old girl. Jacob Ray Banks told a judge that he had made a “colossal mistake,” before being ordered to serve a term of between six-years-to-life at the Utah State Correctional Facility.
Banks was sentenced Monday, Sept. 30 in Logan’s 1st District Court. He previously pleaded guilty to attempted sodomy on a child, a first-degree felony; and enticing a minor by internet or text, a second-degree felony.
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.
During sentencing Sept. 30, defense attorney Adam Crayk said what his client did was “disgusting and wrong.” However, he asked the court for leniency, claiming that there wasn’t an actual teenage victim.
Cache County Deputy Attorney Ronnie Keller said crimes like Banks’ are a “plague in our society,” and there are too many committing them in the community. He claimed local citizens want to see longer sentences imposed for these types of charges.
Banks apologized to the community and law enforcement. He acknowledged that what he did caused immense harm, and he would regret his choices for the rest of his life.
Judge Spencer Walsh said Banks’ addiction to pornography had led him into a “dark path” that was wrong and egregious. He agreed with Keller that these types of crimes are an “epidemic in society.”
In addition to the prison term, Banks will also serve 120 months’ probation and be placed on the sex-offender registry for life.