By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A former juvenile justice counselor preyed on and sexually abused female teens who were "troubled" and in need of guidance, prosecutors said at the opening of his trial on Thursday.
Tony Simmons, 47, was responsible for accompanying juvenile inmates to their court appearances in Manhattan Family Court, but in three instances he allegedly got them alone in places such as an elevator and a locker room in the Lafayette Street courthouse and engaged in sexual conduct with them.
He is charged with raping one girl and sexually abusing two other girls no older than 16, in 2005 and 2008.
"The defendant was one of the people who had that role, as a driver, a watcher," Assistant District Attorney Evan Krutoy told jurors during opening statements. "You'll hear how he went well beyond that role."
Krutoy said the girls came from problematic homes. One girl had a drug addicted mother who was a Bloods gang member, and another alleged victim was working as a prostitute in the Bronx at age 13 and also had a dysfunctional home life, the ADA said.
He took advantage of young women who had been in trouble with the law so he could defend any possible sex abuse claims by depicting them as criminals and liars, the ADA argued.
Simmons's attorney, Gregory Watford, argued the girls fabricated the stories for lawsuit money and because they thought it would get them out of juvenile jail.
One alleged victim, Watford said, stood to receive "one of the largest paychecks she will ever get," in civil court if the jury convicted Simmons, which would add legitimacy to her lawsuit claim.
Simmons had been promised a jail-free sentence in exchange for pleading guilty, but the deal was revoked on Nov. 15 by Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Cassandra Mullen, who said he was not at all remorseful for allegedly molesting and raping the girls.
His display of depravity "shocks the conscience of this court," the judge said at the proceeding last year.
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. was harshly critical of the judge when the deal for 10 years probation was offered to Simmons. The DA called the offer "an egregious breach of the public trust."
Simmons turned down a new offer that would put him in prison for three years, followed by three years probation.
