Abigail Simon was 33-years-old when she was tutoring teenage athletes at Catholic Central High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The attractive 33-year-old blond helped athletes raise their grade point averages. But one day, the mother of one of Simon’s 15-year-old tutor students discovered inappropriate photos of Simon on her son’s cell phone. (One was of Simon in a negligee.) Charges were pressed. After turning down a plea deal that would have required her to spend five months in jail, Simon was convicted on three counts of first-degree sexual assault and one count of accosting a child for immoral purposes. She was sentenced to 8-25 years in prison.
Simon claimed that she was a victim of sexual assault by the 15-year-old, who is 6-foot-3 and weighs about 220 pounds. The teen initially told the police that he was the aggressor, that he was the one who wanted their relationship to become sexual. But he later testified that he lied to protect her. Plus, Grand Rapids police Detective Amy Lowrie, who interviewed Simon after the allegations, said Simon never claimed she was sexually assaulted. The case will be featured on Dateline NBC on June 4 at 8pm.
