Parties debated how to assess a convicted child sex abuse defendant’s risk for recidivism during a sentencing hearing.
“I just want to say that I am sorry for everything that I have caused. I am sorry to the victim, the families, my family, the kids, my mom, for everything that I have done and I just hope everyone forgives me for everything that I have done and caused,” Jerome Simmons said.
Simmons dated the victim’s mother before she kicked him out of the household upon learning about the abuse, though this did not manage to stop it from occurring again. The prosecutor said that in her eyes, the way Simmons groomed the 14-year-old was textbook evidence of a predator. She researched the definition of a predator prior to the hearing and said it is ”a person who looks for other people in order to use, control or harm them in some way.”
The defendant bought the victim a cell phone and had messaged her on Instagram, expressing his attraction and describing sexual activity he wanted to engage in with her. The prosecutor called this a grooming technique. Since the abuse, the victim has had serious issues with feeling “dirty” and is unable to look at herself in the mirror.
“These are the thoughts of a child that is truly traumatized,” the prosecutor said. “This abuse has significant consequences for the victim and the victim’s family.”
The prosecutor harped on recidivism during the Jan. 28 hearing, focusing on the long-term implications of having a sexual predator in the community.
Defense attorney Mani Golzari cited the Static 99 risk assessment tool used in multiple countries for adult male sex offenders, which was included in his Simmons’ pre-sentence report package. Golzari said his client is at average risk for recidivism. But the prosecutor argued that this assessment tool is invalid because it only looks at the rates five years out from leaving prison. She said it also does not look at dynamic factors such as the severity of the offense.
She instead cited another study- one that looks at recidivism 20 years out, saying this showed higher rates.
“Most sex offenses are never reported,” she continued, “so recidivism rates are lower than actuality.”
Golzari took time to address the perspective the prosecutor gave on the data. “That’s how statistical analysis works,” he said, explaining why the sample size focused on the five-year time period. “The important thing for Static 99 is that it looks at unbiased data.”
When addressing the court, Golzari acknowledged his client’s crimes but focused on his character. He said someone close to Simmons called him a “person who is kind and generous to a fault, and caring,” and said the incident was the worst mistake of his life.
“He’s constantly expressed a willingness to treatment,” Golzari said. “He wants to get to the bottom of what made him in this moment of his life, there is something underlying that has not been addressed.”
Golzari said Simmons expressed guilt from the very beginning when police began investigating the offense.
When he was first interviewed, the defendant did have a moment of deflection and did not fully tell investigators what happened, but still expressed remorse. He did eventually admit to investigators what had happened and talked about the messages found on Instagram that he had deleted from his phone.
Simmons accepted a pre-indictment plea offer early on in his case knowing he was facing a sentencing guideline of 15 to 17 years. He pleaded guilty to first-degree child sex abuse.
Golzari finished his argument by requesting that Simons be sentenced on the lighter end of the agreement- 15 years in prison. The defendant will be in his mid 40’s by the time he is able to get out of prison and Golzari said this will make him miss formidable years in his children’s life. The prosecutor requested a 17-year sentence.
After taking both parties’ arguments into account, DC Superior Court Judge Marisa Demeo sided with the defense and imposed a 15-year sentence, encouraging rehabilitation.
Simmons will have to register as a sex offender for ten years after his release from prison.
