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Ex-social worker to serve 20 years Jackson, 63, likely to die in prison for sex abuse of clients By JONEL ALECCIA It was too late for apologies Friday, both for the disabled victims of a former county caseworker convicted of sex crimes and for the 63-year-old felon, Robert Forrest Jackson. "Everyone recognizes that you're probably going to die in prison," Judge Patricia Crain told Jackson as she sentenced him to 20 years in the Oregon Corrections Division. "I think you recognize that, too." Gaunt and grim, Jackson listened impassively as a developmentally disabled former client recounted the effects of years of sexual abuse by the caseworker he regarded as a father figure. "You have been nice to me since I was 14 years old," the 25-year-old man said between sobs on the witness stand. "Why did you treat me like a boyfriend? I wish you were a real father to me and not what you did." Jackson pleaded guilty in June to sexually abusing and sodomizing five disabled victims, including four former clients. In addition, he pleaded no contest to sexually abusing two other adult male victims. Through a plea agreement finalized by Crain, Jackson is set to serve 20 years in prison, including concurrent and consecutive sentences. Several victims, their family members and other supporters lined the Jackson County courtroom as Jackson was sentenced. Many held hands and shed tears as the half-hour hearing commenced. Cameras and recording devices were prohibited by court order, and visitors had to pass through a metal detector to enter. Rising in his bright orange jail garb, the white-haired Jackson looked over at the victims and apologized. "I admit and I'm ashamed of my culpability, my guilt," Jackson said. "This was my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault." Jackson and his court-appointed attorney, Andy Vandergaw, said that pleading guilty to the crimes, thus avoiding a trial, was a move intended to spare the victims more trauma. "It's a way to express my remorse, my sorrow, my contrition," he said. Vandergaw reasserted his claim that the victims were young men capable of consenting to homosexual conduct with Jackson and that a trial would have proved as much. But prosecutor Terry Smith said that evidence would have proven that the men, all of whom have IQs of 70 or below, were clearly incapacitated. She argued that Jackson betrayed those he'd been charged to care for through the county developmental disabilities program. "This was the worst case of sexual exploitation and violation of community trust that I've seen in Jackson County," Smith said. Jackson was arrested more than a year ago after an Oregon State Police investigation discovered incidences of abuse dating to 1996. Investigators said the 13-year veteran of the county program gave the clients alcohol and pornographic videos and then engaged them in sexual touching, oral and anal sex. One victim said he talked to police in order to protect other clients. "It's got to stop," said the young man, who held an impromptu press conference after the sentencing on the courthouse steps. "I can't see another kid get hurt." Jackson pleaded guilty to four charges of first-degree sodomy and one charge of first-degree sexual abuse involving five victims. No-contest pleas were offered to two charges of first-degree sexual abuse involving two other men. Those are pleas in which the defendant maintains innocence, but acknowledges he would likely be convicted if evidence were presented. Seventeen additional sex charges were dismissed as part of a plea negotiation. Jackson is set to be transferred next week to an undisclosed state prison site, a law enforcement official said Friday. Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.