Sex Offender Free Again

 

Phillip Simoneaux is a lifelong molester of children. He was convicted in 1992 of Committing a Lewd Act on a Child. In 2012 he was charged in the 5th Circuit in Richland County when one of his victims came forward as an adult. The 5th Circuit Solicitor plead that charge down to an assault and battery charge after spending months harassing the victim. Yes, you read that right - the prosecutor harassed and threatened a victim of childhood sexual assault. Simoneaux was given a sentence of 3 years, suspended in favor of 2 years of probation. He was sentenced in May of 2014.

As you can see, two years of probation in South Carolina does not exactly mean two years. Here we are just over a year later and Simoneaux’s probation case has been closed.

 

 

 

 

 

This was done in spite of the fact that Simoneaux currently has at least two charges pending for violation of probation. In June of 2014 Simoneaux was hit with a probation violation and released the next day without having to pay bond. At the time of that arrest it was reported Simoneaux had picked up an additional charge for having child porn on his computer. That charge was never entered into either the jail database of the clerk of court database, which indicates to us that information was not correct.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In March of 2015 Simoneaux was charged with another probation violation. At that time it was reported his previous bond had been revoked and he was headed to prison. This information was also inaccurate. Simoneaux was held at the SACDC on the latest violation until May 22nd, 2015 when Judge Roger Young reduced his bond from $100,000 to $50,000. The 69 year old child molester was supposed to be sent to prison, but was allowed to remain at SACDC to be treated for “medical issues”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the time of his arrest in March the jail record shows Simoneaux was convicted of another probation violation directly related to his conviction in Richland County.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We all know the prevailing wisdom on sex offenders is they cannot be cured. So, why is it our system can’t seem to put them behind bars for very long despite multiple violations. In the case of Simoneaux and the previously mentioned “medical problems”, maybe he has something serious and has been sent home to die. We doubt that. As you can see from the records above, there has been no action on his 2014 probation violation charge except for a motion for dismissal. There is no record at all of the previously mentioned conviction on a probation violation. Unless the records are incomplete and that conviction is actually for the 2014 violation.

Here is the pertinent information on this offender. Keep an eye out for him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rest assured your criminal justice system takes these sorts of things seriously. Yeah, right.