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Victims Face Alleged Pedophile in Court

By DNAinfo Staff on January 14, 2011 6:39pm  | Updated on January 15, 2011 10:28am

Tony Simmons, 47, is on trial on sex abuse charges.
Tony Simmons, 47, is on trial on sex abuse charges.
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DNAinfo/Shayna Jacobs

By Shayna Jacobs

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A man charged with sexually abusing three girls while working as a juvenile justice counselor at family court faced the last of his three alleged victims in court on Friday.

In disturbing testimony, one alleged victim who was 15 at the time said she was helping to unload snacks in a courthouse  common room in 2005 when Tony Simmons, 47, started groping her from behind.

"All of a sudden he just came in my face and started kissing me, and when he started kissing me he started grabbing my butt, then started touching my breast," the young woman said.

He ordered her to undress and she stood in the corner pretending to follow his instructions before she finally said "no," the shaken victim testified Friday.

"He said, 'Ok, ok. You don't have to do it now," the soft-spoken girl recalled as she wiped tears from her eyes with a tissue. He did not force her to do anything else at that point, but indicated he wasn't finished, she added.

"You'll give me a little somethin' somethin' later, right?" the alleged sexual predator said, according to the girl's testimony.

Simmons was charged with raping one girl on an elevator and sexually abusing two others at the Lafayette Street courthouse in 2005 and 2008. The three alleged victims — two who were 15, one who was 16 — each took the witness stand at his trial, which opened Tuesday.

Simmons had been responsible for transporting the girls from residential facilities under juvenile justice department control to the courthouse to face charges they faced as youths.

Prosecutors said Simmons preyed on girls who were already troubled and in need of support and guidance. One victim was working as a prostitute at age 13 after getting thrown out of her home, and another girl was forced to sell drugs by her mother, a Bloods gang member, according to prosecutors.

In opening arguments earlier this week, Simmons' attorney, Gregory Watford, argued that the girls fabricated their stories to try to get out of city custody.

Simmons pleaded guilty last year in exchange for a jail-free sentence but the deal was revoked when Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Cassandra Mullen said he showed no remorse for the crimes. 

Testimony is scheduled to resume in the trial on Tuesday.