Vay man indicted on federal sex charges

SANDPOINT - A Bonner County attorney has been indicted for interstate transport of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity.

A federal grand jury in San Diego indicted David Charles Jacqout on the three counts on Aug. 13. The document was unsealed on Aug. 16, according to U.S. District Court records.

Jacqout, 47, transported his underage adopted daughter from Spokane to California on three occasions in 2006 with the intent to engage in lewd and lascivious conduct, the indictment said.

Jacqout is pleading not guilty to the charges. If convicted he faces up to 90 years in prison, although the potential sentencing range under federal guidelines is 12-15 years, court documents indicate.

The charges were brought as Jacqout awaits trial in federal court for tax fraud in California. The new charges come about five months after Jacqout's Vay home was destroyed by fire and a weapons cache, which included a 40-millimeter grenade launcher, was discovered.

A condition of his release in the tax fraud case forbid him from possessing firearms and he was arrested.

Jacqout's attorney, Michael Crowley, said in court documents that his client was in the home during the March 10 fire and was injured. Jacqout, whom Crowley described as a 100-percent disabled Gulf War veteran, lost his ability to speak during the fire, Crowley said.

Jacqout was returned to San Diego in April. He posted a $250,000 property bond and a $50,000 cash deposit, according to court records. He was fitted with a GPS monitoring device and was staying at a halfway house, where he was arrested when the indictment came down.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Shapiro and Faith Devine argued on Aug. 18 that Jacqout was a flight risk and a danger to the community.

Prosecutors said Jacqout and his wife adopted a 12-year-old girl from Kazakhstan. Shortly after arriving at the couple's former home in southern California, Jacqout began having sexual intercourse with her, federal prosecutors allege.

In the spring and summer of 2006, federal prosecutors contend Jacqout transported the teen from Spokane to San Diego on three separate occasions for sexual purposes. The defendant and the alleged victim, then between the ages of 15 and 16, traveled without other family members and on several occasions ordered pornographic movies to the hotel rooms they were staying in, the government alleges.

Crowley argued his client was not a flight risk, pointing out that Jacqout has made every court appearance in his tax fraud case and has complied with all the terms of his conditional release following his re-arrest.

U.S. District Judge Victor Bianchini approved the government's motion to detain Jacqout pending trial on the new charges. The court ruled on Aug. 19 that Jacqout was not a danger to the community, but was a flight risk.