| “ | I may have done some things that... you couldn't possibly understand, but I would never hurt Katie. | ” |
— Richard
| ||
Richard Jacobs is the pedophilic husband of abductor and attempted murderer Susan Jacobs, who appeared in the Season Three episode of Criminal Minds, "Seven Seconds".
Background[]
"Did she get too old for you?"
"No! No."
Sometime before 2007, Richard married Susan and had a son, Jeremy, with her, all the while living what could be considered a perfect suburban lifestyle. However, despite all of this, it is revealed that he is a closet pedophile and started to sexually abuse his niece, Katie, as well as buying her an expensive necklace. This later led to his family falling apart and he was forced to move out, although Richard put up a front that he and Susan were still happily married.
Seven Seconds[]
Soon after Katie goes missing during a family trip at the local shopping mall, the BAU are able to read signs that Katie was being abused. They then notice how Richard could remember the tiniest detail about Katie's likes and dislikes, but oblivious to his own son, which is a classic aspect of a pedophile's pathology, focusing all their attention on their victim to the point they neglect their own children. Using this information, the BAU are able to quickly deduce that Richard is the abuser and also assume he was the one who abducted Katie. Interrogating him about the matter, Richard denies such actions. However, the BAU are able to trick him into confessing by asking if she got too old for him, which he quickly answers, "No."
Despite this confession, he still stuck with his story that he did not abduct Katie. It is then that Prentiss, remembering that Susan came to the mall to buy a lighter for his birthday, realizes that Richard has yet to take a cigarette, with him revealing that he quit smoking last month. This, as well as remembering how the necklace was ripped off, led the team to realize that Susan is the unsub. It is suggested that he was completely unaware that his wife did anything to Katie. Richard is last seen with his wife, being placed in a police car after Katie is found alive, and is incarcerated for his crimes.
Modus Operandi[]
Richard molested his niece Katie. Other than that, no other details were revealed about his M.O., although it is implied that he bought her an expensive necklace and presumably other items as a way to buy her forgiveness and/or silence.
Profile[]
No official profile was made of Richard, since the BAU were more focused on the abduction aspect of Katie's case. However, they deduced that he was a pedophile due to the amount of knowledge about Katie's personal life that he held, compared to the fact that he barely knew his son.
Real-Life Comparison[]
Richard is similar to Richard Allen Davis (who was mentioned by Reid) - Both are pedophilic abductors who targeted girls, have the same first name, and had a female accomplice. What's also interesting to note is that a girl named Jessica Davis (who shares his surname) is also mentioned to have been abducted and killed, a possible reference to Davis.
Known Victims[]
- Unspecified year-2007: Katie Jacobs (his niece; molested only)