Former Kokomo teacher to plead guilty in child porn case

Aug. 3—A former Elwood Haynes Elementary School teacher accused of possession of child pornography is expected to plead guilty to all charges against him, according to recently filed court documents.

Brian Lee Jakes, 49, was arrested back in April and is facing four Level 4 felony charges of child exploitation and 10 Level 5 felony counts of possession of child pornography.

The plea agreement — which is left to the discretion of the judge in the case — was filed Monday afternoon in Howard County Superior Court IV.

If the plea is accepted, the four child exploitation charges would run concurrently with each other, as would the 10 charges of possession of child pornography, according to the agreement.

Of those sentences — one from the four child exploitation charges and one from the 10 possession of child pornography charges — would run consecutively with each other, court documents noted.

In Indiana, a person who commits a Level 4 felony has a range of jail time from two to 12 years, with an advisory sentence of six years.

For Level 5 felonies, that range in jail time is one to six years, per Indiana law.

Jakes' charges stem from an investigation that began in February after detectives with the Kokomo Police Department received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

A probable cause affidavit at the time indicated the tip was generated by the instant messaging app Kik and included one attached video depicting a pre-pubescent female involved in sexual relations with an adult male.

The same tip also noted that the Kik account — which was eventually traced to Jakes' residence — had allegedly uploaded 12 videos of sexual abuse material and child pornography to a chat group on the app's platform.

As part of the investigation, Det. Michael Sewall of the Winnebago County Sheriff's Office in Wisconsin — which was working alongside KPD and the FBI — reportedly conducted an undercover operation in which he attempted to gain access to the chat group, court documents indicated.

After successfully doing so, the account allegedly used by Jakes then sent out pictures and videos of child pornography, several of which appeared to depict children as young as 4 years old engaged in sexually explicit acts.

In mid-April, police conducted a search of Jakes' residence in the 1300 block of Arundel Drive, where they seized several electronic devices, court records stated at the time.

There was also a brief time where Jakes appeared to go missing, court documents noted, and police later located him April 15 at a farm property in rural Howard County, where he had apparently slit his wrists and wrote "I'm sorry" in blood on one of his vehicle's windows.

Authorities also located a noose they believe Jakes hung over one of the rafters inside a nearby barn, an affidavit stated, though investigators do not believe Jakes attempted to use it.

Kokomo Center Schools put Jakes on leave shortly after his arrest in April, and authorities were also quick to point out that none of the children believed to be involved with this case were local.

Jakes' sentencing is set for 2:30 p.m. Sept. 2 inside Howard County Superior Court IV.

Kim Dunlap can be reached at 765-860-3256 or at kim.dunlap@kokomotribune.com.