commentary by Patrick H. Moore
Just when we begin to lose hope that our high school teachers can do little other than seduce their students, we come across a case which flies in the face of accepted “coercion dogma”. Coercion dogma is the prosecutorial theory that every teacher-student intimate relationship is triggered by coercive (or at least seductive) actions on the part of the teacher. And I suspect this may be true a large percentage of the time..
But what if there were some cases in which the teen is the clear-cut aggressor and the teacher is the quaking violet — shivering, oppressed and fearful of the student’s maniacal determination to have his way with the older man or woman?
In this case, which comes to us from our new favorite state for crime weirdness — Michigan (Ohio and Pennsylvania are also in the weirdness sweepstakes), we have a tutor named Abigail Simon, who took the stand at her trial for first-degree sexual assault and accosting a minor for immoral purposes. Abigail, however, testified while working at Grand Rapids Central Catholic High School, she engaged in a close relationship with a student that did not include actual sex, even though they spent the night together on six occasions. Abby also said that she was afraid of the alleged victim.
It’s possible that no one believes her about the sex , not after the victim spent five days on the stand testifying that “the two had a mutual relationship”, but she certainly made her case with plenty of fervor.
Ken Kolker and the 24 Hours News Staff write:
But Friday, Simon got right to the point as she was questioned, saying the student, who was 15 at the time, forced her to have sex with him.
“I didn’t engage in sex with him. He forced me to have sex with him,” Simon testified, saying that it was against her will and she asked him to stop.
Simon testified she never thought of the relationship as romantic, but did admit text messages shared between her and the student were “inappropriate.”
Now this could all be mere subterfuge and misdirection, but Abby gives the distinct impression that she really cares about the young gentleman. She made it clear that she didn’t want the teen to suspect her of having gone to the police – for fear he would get angry and hurt either him or her. This is a weird position for a woman in her 30s to be, but it’s what can happen if you start cavorting (or are forced into cavorting) with a kid of 15.
Abby complained that the kid was controlling, always wanting to know where she was going and what she was doing. When she tried to distance herself, he would get mad. Then the texts began and then he started to tail her. And then the most treacherous sin of all – jealousy (although in this case it didn’t lead to bloodshed). Then Abby’s young gentleman had the gall to complain that she was being too friendly with other students.
In short, even if we see this in a light most favorable to Abby, the relationship reminds us of a teenage romance where two teens get jealous and spy on each other and generally make each other miserable. Only in this case, Abby was hardly a teen.
When Teen accused Abby of being too friendly, she reacted with passable gumption only it backfired:
“I said it was a slap in my face for me saying that, then he slapped me in the face and said ‘that’s a slap in the face,’” Simon testified.
Abby also made a point of telling the jury that she even looked for jobs in other states because being around Teen made her “uncomfortable”.
The hardest part for Abby may have been Friday morning before she testified when an interview was played for the jury in which she confessed to spending the night with the teen on six occasions without having sex.
Somewhere along the way, Grand Rapids Police Detective Amy Lowrie said, perhaps facetiously:
“It sounds like love to me.”
“I know how it sounds,” said Abby.
In response to Abby stating that they never had sex, Detective Lowrie said:
“I know you had sex, he told me that.”
The alleged “sex” is not going to go away but Abby held her ground and refused to confess. And she managed to bring things back around to her fear the victim might be suicidal.
The detective faced some pointed question under cross-examination and admitted that “the victim told police that he was the aggressor – that he had stalked the tutor and threatened to kill her if she told anybody.”
The detective, however, pooh-poohed the veracity of Teen’s confession:
“The story that he gave me, I did not believe,” the detective said.
During Teen’s five days on the witness stand, the alleged victim described racy text messages he exchanged with Abby. Their alleged sexual relationship reportedly began at the high school in early 2013.
As part of his attempt to discredit Teen, “on Wednesday defense attorney Michael Manley pressed the teen about lies told in previous court hearings regarding the sexual relationship between him and Simon. The teen previously claimed that he forced Simon to have sex with him. He claimed he said that because he “was trying to protect Abby.”
So this confuses me. Why demand That Teen recant his earlier claims that he, in essence, raped Abby? Seems like dangerous way to discredit him…
In any event, Attorney Manley asked for a directed verdict, claiming Abby “was intimidated by the 6-foot-3, 220-pound, 15-year-old teen into staying in an abusive sexual relationship.” If the request had been granted, which it was not, it would have meant that the judge was dismissing the charges without the case ever going to the jury.
Abby returned to the stand for cross-examination on Monday, and after closing arguments the case went to the jury.
* * * * *
Thoughts Prior to the Verdict
Abby’s defense strikes me as a tough sell. The jurors are liable to meet her claims with more than a trace of incredulity. And won’t they tend to ignore the fact Teen is not a particularly credible witness? All that matters is the Big Sex Question. Did Abby have sex with Teen? Who will believe they spent the night together six times without “getting _____?”
On the other hand, Abby claims are not entirely out of the realm of possibility. It could have happened. Hell, it probably has happened… But did it happen in this case? Or is Abby merely concocting an arresting but not particularly credible defense that might play better in a crime novel or film than in an American courtroom?
The Verdict
Abigail Simon, 35, was found guilty on Wednesday on four of the five charges against her. Three counts were for first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of for accosting a minor for immoral purposes.
Ms. Simon could face up to life in prison.
The jury did not buy Ms. Simon’s elaborate tale of duress at the hands of Teen. This could work against her at sentencing. In fact, it could totally prejudice the judge. This is bad. Abigail Simon is in very serious trouble.
Turned Down One-Year Plea Deal
Michigan Abuse and Neglect reports that prior to going to trial, Ms. Simon turned down a plea deal that would have capped her sentence at one year in county jail. She is expected to be sentenced sometime this month (January).