Local Man Receives Prison Sentence for Criminal Sexual Assault

A local man has been sentenced to prison for criminal sexual assault.

25-year-old Jacob Fairbanks was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in prison. Fairbanks was arrested in April of 2020 for the offense as well as on a Class X Felony count of possession or production of child pornography.

Effingham City Police Chief Jason McFarland said at the time of the arrest that a person contacted police and turned a computer over to them. The person told police that the computer contained files of Fairbanks and a female juvenile engaged in sexual activity. 

McFarland said police conducted a forensic analysis and found files that supported the charges. The incidents are alleged to have occurred in mid-2019.

In April of this year, Fairbanks pled guilty to the criminal sexual assault count and the child pornography charge was dismissed.