AZ--Child sex victims blast judge

For immediate release: Monday, April 6

For more information: David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP Director (314) 566-9790 cell, [email protected]

Child sex victims blast judge

Pedophile is accused of abusing two girls

One is his own daughter; They’re 7 & 8 years old

This week, he will question both of them in court

Group deplores the move & urges judge to “reconsider”

A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is blasting a judge for letting an accused child molester question two alleged victims, one of whom is his own child, in court this week.

Christopher Simcox of Phoenix faces charges of molesting two girls, now aged seven and eight. He is representing himself so Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jose Padilla is letting him quiz parties and witnesses in court, including the youngsters.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2015/02/judge_allows_ex-minuteman_leader_chris_simcox_to_represent_self_trial_reset.php 

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, call the situation “very troubling” and believe a lawyer, not Simcox, should handle that portion of the case.

“This is the worst possible intimidation for a child sex abuse victim,” said David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP’s director. “We understand that alleged criminals have a Constitutional right to face their accusers. But surely there’s a way to do this that doesn’t re-traumatize these suffering kids even more.”

According to one source:

“At the height of the border vigilante movement, Simcox was president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a nationwide, anti-immigration organization that led armed “citizen border patrols” in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas, along with a smattering of states on the Canadian border where Minutemen had deployed to protect America from northern invaders. Never modest, the cigar-chomping Simcox was a hyper and relentless self-aggrandizer who came across with the smug egotism that quickly earned him the nickname ‘The Little Prince.’”

“He was known for over-the-top claims, like his repeated assertion that he had seen Chinese Red Army men at the Mexican border, preparing to attack the U.S. Nevertheless, he was featured repeatedly on Lou Dobbs’ CNN show and a plethora of shows on Fox News, where he was treated as a serious critic of immigration policy.”

“This is a cruel decision that will deter other abuse victims from protecting kids by exposing child molesters,” Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, SNAP's outreach director. “We fear that more predators will relish the idea of brutalizing and scaring their young victims before dozens of witnesses in open court.”

The prosecutor in the case is Yigael Cohen.