Lincoln police officer arrested on Sacramento County child sexual abuse charges
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Sacramento County sheriff’s detectives arrested Lincoln Police Officer Timothy Jaekel.
- The victims alleged a long-term pattern of sexual abuse starting at 8 years old.
- Jaekel was booked at the Sacramento County Jail with his bail set at $250,000.
Sacramento County sheriff’s detectives on Thursday arrested a Lincoln police officer accused of sexually abusing children who are now adults and reported the abuse earlier this year.
Timothy Scott Jaekel, 52, was arrested on seven counts of committing lewd or lascivious acts with a child younger than 14 years old. He remained in custody Thursday evening at the Sacramento County Main Jail.
His bail amount was set at $250,000, and he was expected to be released after posting bail on Friday, jail records show. His arraignment in Sacramento Superior Court had not yet been scheduled.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office announced the police officer’s arrest in a news release. Sheriff’s officials said the Sheriff’s Office received a call on June 23 reporting that four of Jaekel’s female family members had been sexually abused years earlier by the police officer.
Deputies spoke to one of the alleged victims, who is now an adult and lives in Arizona, and learned Jaekel was an officer with the Lincoln Police Department in Placer County.
Sheriff’s officials said that the woman told deputies that she had already contacted the Police Department earlier that day and reported the abuse before calling the Sheriff’s Office. The deputies then immediately notified the Police Department of the criminal allegations.
Detectives from the sheriff’s Child Abuse Bureau interviewed the four victims, and they said there had been a long-term pattern of being touched by Jaekel over and under the clothing from the ages of 8 to 16 in Sacramento County, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff’s officials said that Jaekel also asked one of the children for nude pictures of herself, and each of the four victims witnessed Jaekel inappropriately touching the other female family members.
On Thursday, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Jaekel, and he was taken into custody in Lincoln without incident.
Lincoln police officials said on Thursday that Jaekel was placed on administrative leave in June when the department learned of the child sexual abuse investigation. They said it was a standard procedure in these types of criminal cases to maintain the integrity of both the investigation and the department.
“The Lincoln Police Department is fully cooperating with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department and the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office as it relates to the ongoing criminal investigation,” police officials said in a written statement.
Police officials said they have not been given any details about the Sheriff’s Office’s investigation. The Police Department declined to provide any further details about Jaekel or his arrest, citing the ongoing investigation.
This story was originally published October 16, 2025 at 5:42 PM.
