Crime & Safety

Dundas Man Charged with Repeatedly Abusing Rice County Jail Cellmate

Police say Jacob Peter Banks repeatedly beat the victim, forced him to drink his own urine and threatened to kill him and his family if he told anyone.

A Dundas man has been charged with repeatedly abusing his cellmate at the Rice County Jail this summer, including beating the victim, forcing him to stab himself over and over in the leg with a pencil and drink shampoo, sanitizer solution and his own urine.

Jacob Peter Banks, 20, is charged with two felonies: demonstrating a pattern of stalking conduct, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine, and stalking, which has a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Banks is also charged with fifth-degree assault, a gross misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.

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According to the criminal complaint filed in Rice County District Court, Rice County Jail staff learned on July 31 that a jail inmate was being abused by Banks, who was his cellmate for about a month.

The victim told staff that Banks took his canteen card—which inmates use to buy personal items, and to which family members add cash amounts—and bought items with it, telling the victim to make sure his family kept money in the account.

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Almost every day, the victim said, Banks made him go into a corner of their cell that is not visible to security cameras, then choked and hit him. Banks made the victim drink his own urine, sanitizer solution and shampoo, and made him eat soap and feces, according to the complaint.

Banks also forced the victim to stab himself repeatedly in the leg with a pencil, called him offensive names and forced him to be verbally abusive toward correctional officers, the complaint charges.

The victim told staff members that he was afraid to report the abuse because Banks threatened to kill his family if he said anything to anyone or if the victim didn’t follow his orders. He said Banks threatened to break his bones and repeatedly kicked him in the groin if he fell asleep.

Police say the victim had scrapes and bruises, bumps on his head and 40 to 50 stab marks in his leg that were made with a pencil.

Jail canteen records showed that Banks used the victim’s canteen card to make $61.10 worth of purchases. Jail employees found numerous items in Banks’ cell that had been purchased using the victim’s card.

Banks was behind bars in July on charges that he stole a gun and possessed a firearm while on probation. He was charged earlier in the year with stealing his grandmother’s ATM card. When he was arrested in May, police found a .177-caliber pistol, a knife, drug paraphernalia, a roll of duct tape and a loaded .410-caliber shotgun shell on him.

After that arrest, Banks admitted to breaking into his grandparents’ home and stealing coins, a lockbox, a .410-caliber shotgun and a Colt .45-caliber pistol, according to court documents. He was convicted of felony domestic assault in September 2011 and was prohibited from possessing firearms.

Banks remains in the Rice County Jail.

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