Jury selection to begin in trial of man accused of soliciting teens & women to engage in sex acts

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in the trial of a Hemet man accused of posing as a woman on Facebook and soliciting teenage girls and women to engage in sex acts for money, including two Shadow Hills
High School students who reported him to authorities.

Eliberto Cruz Jacobo, 46, is charged with 61 felony counts, including human trafficking of a minor, inducing or persuading a minor to engage in a commercial sex act, statutory rape and possession of child pornography.

Jacobo is accused of posing as “Marlissa Garcia” on Facebook and having conversations with numerous women and teenage girls ranging in age from 14 to 31, suggesting they could make money as escorts.

“Marlissa Garcia” would continue to recommend that the victims pursue prostitution, even if they said that were minors, the prosecution’s trial brief alleges. Prosecutors allege some of the victims did end up engaging in
prostitution with a client known as “Robert,” later identified as Jacobo.

Sheriff’s deputies tracked the messages from “Marlissa Garcia” to an IP address at the defendant’s home, where deputies found photos on his computer of minors allegedly engaged in sex acts with Jacobo. Some of the juveniles also pointed “Robert” out to detectives when shown a photographic lineup of suspects, according to the prosecution.

According to the brief, “Marlissa Garcia” was first brought to the attention of law enforcement in November 2014 by two students at Indio’s Shadow Hills High following a school presentation on human trafficking. The girls told deputies that “Marlissa Garcia” had recruited them on Facebook for prostitution.

Jacobo was taken into custody in early 2015 and is being held at the Riverside County jail in Indio in lieu of $2 million bail.