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DA Cy Vance Blasts 'Outrageously Lenient' Sentence for Admitted Rapist

By DNAinfo Staff on September 28, 2010 11:13am  | Updated on September 28, 2010 11:41am

District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. decried the probation sentence of confessed rapist Tony Simmons.
District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. decried the probation sentence of confessed rapist Tony Simmons.
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DNAinfo/Shayna Jacobs

By Shayna Jacobs

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN SURPEME COURT — The Manhattan District Attorney blasted a judge's decision to spare a juvenile counselor from prison time after he admitted to raping and sexually abusing three teenagers, calling the move "outrageously lenient."

State Supreme Court Judge Cassandra Mullen sentenced Tony Simmons, 47, to 10 years probation on Monday and ordered him to register as a sex offender. Simmons had faced up to 8 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to raping a teenager and sexually assaulting two others.

"This was an egregious breach of the public's trust," DA Cy Vance Jr. said in a statement about the judge's use of the softest possible punishment available under sentencing laws.

Simmons worked as a counselor in the city's Department of Juvenile Justice and was based at 60 Lafayette Street, the family court building where the incidents took place between 2000 and 2008.

The criminal acts took place in a courthouse waiting area, Simmons confessed.

Simmons' lawyer did not return calls for comment Monday evening.