A former Jefferson County municipal prosecuting attorney has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for pressuring a woman he was prosecuting into having sex and then lying about the incident to the FBI, the U.S. District Attorney’s Office announced.
James Isaac “Ike” Crabtree was sentenced Tuesday, Feb. 7, by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark. Along with the prison sentence, Crabtree was ordered to pay for counseling for the victim, the U.S. District Attorney’s Office reported.
Crabtree, 40, of Crystal City pleaded guilty Aug. 18 to a misdemeanor civil rights charge for deprivation of rights under the color of law and to a felony charge for lying to FBI agents investigating the case, court records show.
“James Crabtree repeatedly coerced a woman into sexual activity by offering to help her with pending criminal cases and making her think she risked jail and the loss of her children if she refused,” U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming said. “The sentence he received today should send a message to officials about the consequences of betraying the public’s trust and violating the rights of vulnerable victims.”
According to sentencing documents, Crabtree summoned the woman to his office in the Jefferson County Justice Center after hours in March 2021 under the guise of helping her with pending court cases. He then offered her alcohol and prescription drugs and asked the woman if she was wearing a wire. The woman told him she was not wearing a wire, but she used her cell phone to record the encounter.
Crabtree told the woman he could be “a very valuable friend” when talking about two of the victim’s cases he was prosecuting and then gave her $300. The woman told him she was not a prostitute and would not have sex with him. After he was rebuffed, Crabtree mentioned the woman’s two children, so she believed she was being threatened, the report said.
According to the sentencing documents, Crabtree kissed and groped her, took off her shirt, asked her to take off more clothing and masturbated in front of her. Crabtree was heard in the recording telling the woman he was going to drop the charges against her.
The sentencing documents also said Crabtree had the woman meet him at various locations in Jefferson County, where he forced her to sit on his lap while he kissed her. He also had a sexual encounter with the woman at a bed and breakfast and wanted her to send him nude pictures.
The woman said Crabtree stalked her and showed up at her place of work, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
“When I showed up to his office, I trusted him. Instead of an officer of the court and a true prosecutor, I found out that I encountered a monster and a person not deserving of the titles and office bestowed upon him,” the woman said in a written statement. “He horribly abused my trust in him. He violated me. He sexually assaulted me.
“In the moments leading up to it and after the assaults, he preyed upon my vulnerabilities and weaknesses. He then continued to use those vulnerabilities and weaknesses to exercise his control over me and manipulate me. He threatened to interfere in my other legal matters and talked about how powerful he was and how he knew the attorneys or judges involved and could easily contact them. To this date, I still do not know whether he contacted them or how many.”
During the sentencing, Clark said the woman went along with Crabtree “out of fear,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.
In March 2022, Crabtree was questioned by FBI agents about the encounter at his office, and he repeatedly lied about what happened, the report said.
“James Crabtree is even worse than other sexual predators because he used his official authority to abuse a victim, which makes his sexual assault a civil rights violation,” said Jay Greenberg, special agent in charge of the FBI St. Louis Division. “The FBI prioritizes investigating any government employee who misuses his or her official position.”
Before the sentencing, more than 10 people, including lawyers, family members, friends from his Russian Orthodox church and colleagues from his work with Habitat for Humanity, wrote letters on Crabtree's behalf, court records show.
Crabtree will surrender to a federal prison at a later date, and his prison term will be followed by three years of supervised release, according to court documents.
He resigned from his position with the county as a municipal prosecuting attorney on March 15. He had held that job since Feb. 23, 2015, and was being paid an $81,226.92 annual salary, Jefferson County Counselor Wes Yates III said.
The Jefferson County Municipal Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is separate from the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which is in the Jefferson County Courthouse in Hillsboro.
Crabtree was indicted by a federal grand jury on April 20. He initially pleaded not guilty to both charges on April 21 before pleading guilty in August, court documents show.
Assistant U.S. attorney Hal Goldsmith handled the case, which was investigated by the FBI.