One of the founders of the “Minuteman” border-protection movement was found guilty Wednesday by an Arizona jury of multiple child sex-abuse charges and could be headed to prison for life.
Chris Simcox was convicted in Maricopa County Superior Court on two counts of child molestation and one count of furnishing obscene material to a minor.
The 55-year-old Simcox — who represented himself at trial — was accused by two girls, then ages 5 and 6, of touching them inappropriately in 2013. According to the Arizona Republic, the case was also boosted by the testimony of two other female victims — a woman who said Simcox had molested her when she was a young girl, and a girl who said Simcox had tried to give her candy as a bribe to show him her genitals.
While Mr. Simcox protested that “[e]ach of the state witnesses… had motive to implicate me,” the Republic reported that “Maricopa County prosecutor Yigael Cohen undercut this argument by noting that Simcox’s accusers had come forward separately.” What is more, “The mothers of two alleged victims didn’t know each other, and the young woman was first contacted by a police detective about the case, not vice versa.”
Mr. Simcox, who briefly challenged Sen. John McCain’s reelection bid in a 2010 Republican primary, first “stepped into the public eye in the mid-2000s as the co-founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps,” according to the Phoenix, Arizona newspaper.
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.