The man pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a child under 10 years of age

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVE) — A 40-year-old man has pleaded guilty to seven felony counts of child sexual abuse involving a Norfolk child under the age of 10 between 2019 and 2020.

Jamal D’Angelo Jackson entered into a plea deal on Tuesday that included charges against him in Maryland and Washington for similar crimes between 2015-2017 and 2020.

Court documents show Jackson met the Norfolk victim’s family in 2013 while in Maryland. He became a close friend of the family and lived with them from time to time until July 2020.

In October 2020, the victim reported Jackson’s abuse during police questioning. Authorities in Maryland soon arrested him on the charges there, and in January 2022 he was extradited to Virginia to face charges for the Norfolk crimes.

Norfolk police charged Jackson with aggravated sexual abuse of a child, two counts of indecent entertainment with a child and sodomy of a child.

In December 2022, the victim came forward with further allegations of abuse, and prosecutors filed direct charges of three additional counts of sodomy against Jackson.

“Mr. Jackson abused the child’s innocence for his own gratification, and he abused the trust of the child’s family by pretending to be someone who could help rather than harm,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Mr Jackson’s guilty plea is the result of three jurisdictions working together and the sentence we are seeking in Norfolk will reflect the gravity of Mr Jackson’s crimes as a whole.”

In exchange for his guilty plea in Norfolk, which included facts from other pending charges, state prosecutors in Maryland and federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., agreed to drop those pending charges.

The Norfolk Family Justice Center has resources available to anyone who has been a victim of a crime, including but not limited to child abuse. For more information visit norfolkfjc.orgcall 757-330-0376 or stop by the NFJC at Multi-Services Center Park Place at 606 W. 29th St., 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.

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