Former Boy Scout leader sentenced to 77 years for sexually assaulting scouts dies in prison

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — A former Gastonia Boy Scout leader serving a 77-year sentence for the sexual assault of two scouts died in prison Wednesday.

Herbert Jacobs was 71 years old when he died.

The mother who fought for Jacobs’ prosecution 22 years ago told Gaston County reporter Ken Lemon she has forgiven him, despite coming very close to taking his life herself.

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The woman, who didn’t want to be identified, still has newspaper clippings of the 1996 trial.

She keeps them close by to “remind me of the fight.”

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Her son was the first to accuse Jacobs of sexual assault while Jacobs served as his scoutmaster.

Prosecutors decided they didn't have enough information to go to trial, but that wasn’t good enough for her.

"It was my fight,” she said. “I was on a one-woman campaign."

The mother conducted her own investigation, repeatedly going to the district attorney.

"He couldn't get rid of me,” she said.

She said she bought a gun and parked across the street from Jacobs' house, prepared to take the law into her own hands.

"I was so full of rage. So many sleepless nights that he did this,” the mother said. “I was going to murder him if he didn't go to court."

As angry as she was, she said she couldn’t pull the trigger.

Then, more accusers came forward and Jacobs was charged.

One of the accusers told Channel 9, “He ruined my life.”

“(He) ruined a lot of people's lives,” accuser Glenn Clark said.

Even after Jacobs' conviction, the Scouts took years to create policy preventing leaders from meeting one on one with Scouts.

"I couldn't stay with hate in my heart,” the mother said. “I asked God to forgive him through me."

The woman told Channel 9 she always believed Jacobs would die in jail.

When she heard he died, all of the emotions she felt during the trial came rushing back.

Now, she feels she is at peace with the past.

Cox Media Group