By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A 26-year-old man was sentenced to one year in prison after admitting to abducting his 17-year-old girlfriend, who had recently argued with her mother, and keeping her at his home for over a month.
Assistant Chief Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans arraigned Alex Simmons on a charge of abduction.
Simmons reportedly kept the teenage girl, whose name is being withheld because she is a minor, at his residence in New Providence between February 14 and March 18 alledgedly intending to have sexual intercourse with her despite not having lawful custody.
Simmons pleaded guilty to the charge. He told the magistrate he was “waiting” to have sex with the underage girl and claimed she came to his house after a fight with her mother.
He also told the court that he is the father of an infant son and has another child on the way.
Magistrate Vogt-Evans severely admonished Simmons, saying he was “out of line.” She noted that the victim referred to him as her “boyfriend” in the official report. While the magistrate acknowledged that the teenage girl orchestrated the abduction, she stressed that Simmons, as the adult, should have corrected the situation.
She said he failed to act responsibly and instead encouraged the teen’s actions, knowing she was underage and still living with her mother.
The magistrate told Simmons the court would not tolerate the sexual abuse of minors and warned him to let the next person under 18 “pass him by.” She also referred to the number of missing children in the country.
Although Simmons was credited for his early guilty plea, the court noted he had prior convictions, though none of a similar nature.
He was sentenced to one year in prison and informed of his right to appeal the sentence.
Assistant Superintendent of Police S. Coakley served as the prosecutor.
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