MIDLAND Midland County District Attorney Laura Nodolf announced in a Friday news release that a 58-year-old Midland man was sentenced late Thursday to three terms of life in prison after being found guilty of child sexual abuse charges by a Midland County jury.
Jackie Nolan Kocks was charged in case number CR57050 with two counts of Aggravated Sexual Assault of Child and another count of Indecency with a Child by Exposure. The trial began on Monday, October 28, and the jury found Kocks guilty of all three charges around lunchtime on Thursday after deliberating for approximately three hours. The defendant elected to have his punishment set by Judge Jeffrey Robnett, who delivered the three life sentences later Thursday afternoon.
The evidence presented in the case showed that in 2018 and 2019 the defendant twice penetrated the sexual organ of a female victim younger than 14 years old, and also exposed his genitals to the same child in 2019, the release said.
Evidence also established that Kocks had been convicted of a child sex offense previously in 1986 in Mitchell County, which required him to register as a sex offender. Under the law, that previous conviction resulted in automatic life sentences upon conviction of the Aggravated Sexual Assault charges at issue in the trial. Judge Robnett then decided to assess the maximum possible sentence of life in prison for the Indecency charge. The defendant had also been convicted twice before of felony Driving While Intoxicated.
Kocks must serve at least 30 years of his concurrent sentences before the possibility of parole. Even then, eligibility for parole does not mean that parole will be granted, the release said.
The case was prosecuted by Midland County Assistant District Attorneys Todd Meador and Paola Lujan-Hayes. Kocks was represented by Dallas attorney Nicholas Toufexis. The trial was held in the 441st District Court and presided over by Judge Jeffrey Robnett.
For more information contact First Assistant District Attorney Tim Flathers at 688-4427.
