Friday, October 16, 2009
Man convicted of indecency charges
Douglas Jaccard, also facing a murder charge in a separate case, had propositioned a teen.
A Wythe County jury on Thursday convicted a man whose disappearance last year sparked a three-day manhunt of two counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor.
Douglas Jaccard, 59, who faces murder charges in a separate case, had been charged with two counts of indecent liberties and one count of abduction stemming from March 2008.
He was accused of propositioning a teenage boy who lived near him in the Max Meadows area, just across the Pulaski County line. Jaccard and the boy were debarking wood at the time, and Jaccard was holding a knife, leading to the abduction charge.
After a two-day jury trial in Wythe County Circuit Court that included testimony from both the boy -- by closed-circuit TV -- and Jaccard, Jaccard was found guilty of the two indecent liberties charges, Wythe County Commonwealth's Attorney Gerald Mabe said. He was found not guilty of abduction.
The jury recommended that Jaccard serve three years in prison for each conviction, Mabe said.
Jaccard was convicted in August of possessing an explosive as a convicted felon because officers found gunpowder in his home.
He will be formally sentenced on all three convictions in December.
Jaccard continues to await trial on 13 charges that include first-degree murder, attempted murder, attempted capital murder of a law enforcement officer and arson.
Police say Jaccard shot and killed neighbor Joe Bane, shot neighbor Jerry Covey in the arm and set fire to Bane's house with Bane's wife and son still inside. Both escaped.
The events sparked a three-day manhunt for Jaccard in mid-December, during which police say he also shot at them.
Jaccard was found hiding under his kitchen table.
A five-day jury trial on those charges is scheduled to begin Feb. 1.











