does he continue to guide you? in any decision in life, i like to ask or think, what would joe do in this situation? because he always took the right track. i think that i'm a better father because of the way my dad raised me. i know i'm a better husband. i'm a better friend. and i hope that he is proud of me. and i know that he is proud of me. when i think about him, i think about how he was-- he always pushed himself to be the best. but most of all, i just miss my big brother. [music playing]

it started with a racy photo found on a teenage boy's phone and ended in a courtroom with a jury forced to decide. was the tutor in the picture a victim or a predator? here is keith morrison with a teacher's message. >> it didn't have to end here. >> he keeps stating things he has no evidence for as though it is fact. >> you've got the evidence. >> no, don't just say that. >> it was the theater of the absurd. >> i want to know who it is. >> detectives upset.

>> i thought it was disgusting. i thought it was horrible the way they dragged that family through the mud. >> nor did there have to be a sobbing witness. >> i'm trying to be honest up here. so disrespectful. >> even a judge visibly out of control. >> i'm beginning to lose it a little bit. >> victim bashing. >> no, it didn't have to turn into a battle royal, played out in public court for all the world to see. it didn't have to go that way at all, or end this way. >> we, the jury, on count i -- >> oh, god, no. >> that's all hindsight now. ♪ ♪ >> where a person begins a story as twisted and strange as this one can seem arbitrary perhaps, but this case? to us it made sense to begin on a friday morning in april 2013 in the city of grand rapids, michigan, when a phone rang on the desk of detective amy lowry.

it was a call from an attorney who reported that a mother of a high school sophomore had seen something that couldn't be unseen. >> the boy's mother had suspected something and had taken his phone in because it was broken and had the information transferred to another phone to view what was on his phone. >> and what was on it? well, besides the flood of text and photos you would expect to see on any teenager's phone was this. it was grainy but unmistakable. a scantly clad woman, a woman clearly much older than the boy. the photo, along with the accompanying text messages, longing, urgent, breathless, left no doubt whatsoever in the mind of the detective. >> immediately it was evident that there was a romantic relationship going on. >> so how did you view that from a legal and ethical and moral point of view? >> obviously it needed to be investigated. >> detective lowry was experienced in matters like the

one before her now. she's a a decade had been assigned to the children's assessment center, as well as five full-time investigators working on cases involving the sexual abuse of children. >> five people, full time in a town the size of grand rapids, it tells you something, doesn't it? >> correct. >> do you find that disspiriting? >> very. i mean it is -- i think most people would find it dispiriting the amount of cases we have to investigate of this nature. >> this one needed to be investigated not only because of what the detective saw on the phone. no, it was more than that. the lawyer who called the detective worked for the catholic diocese at grand rapids and told her the young man in question was a student and star athlete here at grand rapids catholic central high school. and the woman? worked here. she wasn't just any school employee. she was the student's school-appointed tutor.

>> she is a person of authority. it is obviously an inappropriate relationship. i knew that she was in her 30s and that he was only 15 years old. so regardless, it was an illegal relationship. >> detective lowry went over to see the boy's parents. >> had thquestioned their son? >> no, the mother hadn't questioned her son at all. i think she was unsure how to bring it up. she knew that he would, you know, most likely be angry about it. >> she wanted somebody to put a stop to this. >> absolutely, uh-huh. >> so next the detective went to catholic central high school, and after meeting with the administrators pulled the young man, then a sophomore, out of class, middle of the afternoon. >> what did he tell you? >> initially he denied that there was any -- any relationship taking place. you know, he said that they were friends but that nothing had happened. >> you knew that wasn't so? >> right. he sent text messages. >> did you explain that to him? >> i did. i read him some of the text messages, and that's when he

admitted that there was a sexual relationship. >> it often goes that way with a teenager, said detective lowry, as any parent of one would understand. stages of denial, which in this case over a series of interviews finally gave way to what the boy seemed to see as the crux of the matter. >> he thought that they should be allowed to have the relationship, you know, because he was mature enough and they loved each other and should be together. it is very common that they don't see themselves as a victim in this. >> that's where it all gets kind of strange, doesn't it? >> yes. >> and now it was time for the detective to talk to the tutor at the center of the case, the one in that photo in the cellphone. abigail simon. one of the many things the detective wanted to know was who made the first move. police get the tutor's story on tape, but what was true and what wasn't? coming up --

>> who initiated it? >> we never had sex. >> i -- i know you had section. he told me that. i want to know who initiated it. >> i initiated it. >> when "dateline" continues. i. >> when "dateline" continues e s and allergists that helps heal your skin from within. severe allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for face, mouth, tongue, or throat swelling, wheezing or trouble breathing. tell your doctor of new or worsening eye problems like eye pain, vision changes, or blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma or other medicines without talking to your doctor. ask your doctor about dupixent. only purple's gel flex grid passes the raw egg test. ask your doctor no other mattress cradles your body and simultaneously supports your spine. memory foam doesn't come close. get your best sleep guaranteed. save up to $1,000 during our blackfriday sale. visit purple.com or a store near you. the first time you try bounce, it hits you. your laundry feels way fresher, softer. so you start to wonder, if i put a sheet of bounce on the finance guy, will it make him softer?

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a cloud darkened the joy of spring in grand rapids, michigan, that april of 2013. the mother of a sophomore at one of the city's most prestigious high schools, catholic strl, found this photo on a cellphone her son had been using. she couldn't let it go. he was 15. the woman was his tutor. before long detective amy lowry was assigned to figure out what was going on. the fact the adult was female, the child male, didn't make a difference to her. >> i think there's a double standard in society where they view females in this situation as victims, but i think a lot of society just doesn't feel the same way about boys. there are consequences to this type of relationship, you know, even shifting stories from the boy? when the detective got him to admit there was something between them, an affair consummated in the tutor's gleaming high-rise condo, the boy announced that it was he who started it, not her. that it wasn't her fault. so what would the tutor, abigail

simon, say? >> you're not under arrest, okay? you're free to leave but there's something that we need to talk about. >> okay. >> and when ms. simon heard that text messages were in question, she knew why the detective was there, that pupil of hers. >> do you know who i'm talking about now? >> okay. we've just become close this year. i tried to help him change his life around. >> but when the subject turned to the specifics of their relationship, which the detective felt was plainly outlined in those racy texts and photos, well, a surprise. >> he calls you baby girl, you call him baby boy. do you think that's appropriate or -- >> no, i care so much for him. i do. i adore him. i don't -- i don't even know what to say about it. >> who initiated it. >> well, i mean, i -- i -- we never actually -- like we never had sex. >> i know you had sex.

he told me that and i could read the text message. it is not a question whether you guys had sex or not. i want to know who initiated it. who asked who to do what? >> i'm not answering that cause i don't know what your definition is then. >> her response is, i don't know what your definition of sex is. >> that's a little clinton-esque, isn't it? >> i would agree with that, yeah. >> did she tell you what her definition was? >> no, she ended the interview. >> that was it? >> correct. >> the detective confiscated the iphone, and later that day the diocese of grand rapids fired her from her job as a tutor. also, she was by police order told not to have any contact whatsoever with the young man. detective lowry continued her investigation, and before long she was approached by other people at the school, saying they had concerns about ms. simon for a while. >> some of the teachers felt her behavior was inappropriate around some other students.

>> so then detective lowry sought out those other students and heard something else may have happened, something with another young man. >> there was another boy who said there was an incident in the library where they were talking, they were flirting, which they had for some time, and he kissed her. >> and did she tell him to stop, go away, this is inappropriate? >> he described it as a short kiss and he said that, you know, that can't happen again, and she says, no, it can't, and that was the end of the story. >> as investigators dug deeper, another detective joined the case, dave gilliam, called in for his uncanny ability to plumb a cellphone for almost anything it has ever done. on abbie simon's iphone it was not an easy thing to do. >> she had erased most of the section messages between her and the victim, and i was able to recover many of them. we don't know how many there were, but we did recover

thousands and thousands of -- >> thousands? >> of text messages. >> and this material that had been erased, she chose to erase? >> correct. >> what did it imply to you? >> she was hiding it. it was something she would not want people to see so she deleted it. >> abbie moved back to her parents' place, a two-hour drive from grand rapids. summer came. and then the detective discovered that her no-contact order wasn't enough to keep abbie simon away from her teenage lover. >> she tweeted him and gave him the information on how to contact her, because i had her phone. so he couldn't call her anymore or text her anymore. she had changed phone numbers but somehow he was able to e-mail her and call her. >> then, at least once they managed to meet in person. >> in fact, he was very upset at

being told he couldn't see her again, right? >> yes, he was in love. >> in fact, he created a new e-mail account, jose diaz 27, and the photos and declarations of everlasting love flew between them at the speed of infatuation. and then in early august, some three months after the relationship came to light, abigail simon drove from her parents' house to the gym and there was the police car. this was her mug shot. she was charged with several counts of criminal sexual conduct and accosting a minor for immoral purposes, but she soon made bail. >> rolling, one, two, three. >> and as the case against her was being prepared back in grand rapids, she sat down with us to say that everything we've been told about this so-called teacher/child love story was all together wrong. >> i read the police report too, and when i read it i was like, oh, yeah, she is guilty, and none of those things were true.

>> this was no love story, said abigail simon. no, more like a nightmare. coming up -- after school, behind closed doors -- >> he didn't look like a 15-year-old boy. he didn't act like a 15-year-old boy. he was a monster. >> when "dateline" continues. >> when "dateline" continues hard botanicals. ♪♪ these sulfate-free formulas deeply penetrate and replenish nutrients. ♪♪ to boost hair health in just one wash. ♪♪ all without the salon naturals price tag. ♪♪ ♪♪ it's supercharged herbal essences. ♪♪

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regina king is in our studio looking radiant as ever. don't cover up your glow. ♪♪ flawless. all eyes on you. skin esteem is a beautiful thing. ♪♪

♪ ♪ this was not the sort of place people are often arrested, not among the fine, big homes and ebbs pansive lawns of grand blanc, michigan. this is where abigail simon grew up, her father a successful attorney, both parents graduates of notre dame. but this is where she was pulled over, arrested and charged with criminal sexual conduct for having a relationship with her then-15-year-old central catholic high school pupil and where in 2014 she sat down with us in the family living room. >> how does it feel to be right now? >> well, today it is scary because this is the first time i'm sharing this with anyone other than my therapists and my lawyers, my parents. i feel empowered to do it finally. i have been holding on to it for so long. >> holding on to what exactly? well, abby simon told us everything you have heard about her relationship with the young

man is a lie, perpetuated by his family and overzealous detectives. >> it is hard because the way it is being portrayed and my story that's already been told by them is so not the person i am. >> abby's story? after obtaining a masters degree in academic advising she moved to grand rapids and was offered a position in that very specialty by the catholic diocese. soon, she said, she wasn't so much advising as tutoring athletes at two catholic high schools. one of them was that boy who she said was struggling with a 1.7 grade point average, and so she helped him as much as she could, often late into the evenings as she said she did with all of her students. then, said abby, it was january 2013, and the incident occurred, the thing that started it all. it happened, she said, at the end of a group study session. >> he waited until everyone left

and then he was so angry that i didn't give him any attention that, i wasn't helping him and that i didn't care about him. and i was like, that's a slap in the face to me because i've done everything for you, and he slapped my face and said, no, that's a slap in the face. >> wait a minute. he slapped her face? >> slapped my face. no, that's a slap in the face. >> he's 15 years old. you could get him kicked out of school for that. >> but i didn't want to. he was the scariest person alive. >> the scariest person alive? abby simon was telling us something she had never told the detectives investigating this case, nor even friends or family at the time she said it was going on. the appropriate response would have been immediate and it would be over. i mean he would have to atone somehow. you were the one in charge. did you not feel as if you could do that? why? >> he didn't care if he got in

trouble. he shut me down. >> and after? abby said she became terrified of the big, athletic young man, already over 6 feet and nearing 200 pounds though he was just 15. why so frightened of a teenage boy? well, she said, part of the reason was she had been a victim of domestic violence before. back in 2007 when she was working at a retail store in chicago and had a boyfriend whom she claimed was abusive. >> i went into his apartment and i said, this isn't going to work, and that's when he lost his mind on me and slammed me to the ground. >> do you remember what you felt like? >> i thought i was going to die. he told me to take my last breath, that he was going to kill me. i was just so sad. i'm like, this is how i'm going to die? i mean i thought he was going to snap my neck. i felt that's what he was trying to do. >> abby said she ran for her

life. her father, the attorney, persuaded her to go to the police and eventually to get this restraining order, though soon after that she tried against the judge's wishes to undo it, afraid the man would find out and hurt her, she said. the incident changed her life, said abby. >> i packed my stuff up and moved back home at age like 27 or 28. and like the city, i loved it, the job i loved was forever gone. >> still bothers you to think about that? was he ever charged with anything? >> no. >> anyway, that story, said abby, could explain why she didn't report her young student at catholic central high when, her claim, the boy slapped her. nor when, according to her, he stalked her and showed up at starbucks and other places near her high-rise condo and made him give her the key to her apartment. intimidated her enough he got control of her phone and used it

to send texts to her friends. he even tried to control who she could see, she said, even when she went out of tourn. and on three separate occasions he sexually assaulted her. >> you know, that first time if he raped you, the right thing to do is to go to the police. he would be charged. >> who would believe that? he was 15. who was going to believe that? >> that lingerie photo the boy's mother found, it wasn't a come-on, she said. the photo was taken in self-defense. it was her cry for help. >> i wasn't posing. i was doing what he wanted me to do. i wasn't assaulted that night because i did that. >> did you ever have consensual sex with him? >> never. >> the proof, she offered, one text, the smoking gun she claimed, one out of -- well, actually thousands of apparently loving and, frankly, explicit texts. this one though is so explicit

we can't show you the whole text, but it includes a line that suggests sex reading in part, never put you through that again, what her definition of sex was, because to abby it wasn't sex, it was sexual assault. >> he didn't look like a 15-year-old boy. he didn't act like a 15-year-old boy. he was a monster. >> in our interview, abby simon had just offered a stunning defense to a charge of having sex with a boy. turned herself from perpetrator to victim. the question was, would it hold up in court. coming up -- abby simon's telling text messages to her friends. >> i don't care if he's 20 or 50, i just need my heart skipping. >> and it is concerning the only person whose company i enjoy here is a 15 year old. >> when "dateline" continues. >>s p feeling like himself.

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hi. i'm richard liu with a news update. president-elect donald trump announcing a slew of nominations for his second term friday, including several to carry out his health policy. he named marty mccarey as the choice to lead the food and drug administration. army doctor and former congressman dave weldon to head the center for disease control. if confirmed the candidates will work with rfk jr., trump's pick to lead the department of health and human services to shape the nation's health policy. for now, back to "dateline." ." ♪ ♪ as the sunshine faded and western michigan settled into the late fall of 2014, it appeared the case against abigail simon was headed to a courtroom. so a veteran prosecutor named helen brinkman was assigned the

case. it was to be her last before retirement. she had made a career out of prosecuting sex crimes. >> you go after rapists and abusers on behalf of victims and you have a situation where there's a person you're prosecuting who claims she is the victim. >> yes. what a way to end a 25-year-long career, to have someone who was preying on a 15-year-old boy for her own gratification turn around and make the child responsible. i still have a difficult time wrapping my mind around that. >> still, in an effort to avoid what was sure to be a very public, very painful trial, the prosecutor's office offered abby simon a plead deal. plead guilty to one count of criminal sexual conduct and accept one year behind bars, which with time off for good

behavior would likely mean abby would be free in a matter of months. >> i know we as a team really wanted them to accept that plea offer so that that kid didn't have to go through any of that. the damage and the harm that comes from this kind of trial to a kid? you just can't understand until you are that kid and you're that kid's family. >> but abigail simon turned the deal down, cold. >> some people probably thought what the heck were you thinking, right? >> most people. >> so why did you do it? >> i was threatened and stalked and assaulted and scared out of my mind, and then i'd have to pay for his consequences forever. >> forever, because had she taken the plea deal abby would be placed in the sexual offender's list, and that wouldn't ever go away. >> so now, now you are facing this trial. it is not going to be easy, is

it? >> unh-unh. next year -- it was a guarantee i would be sitting at that table for thanksgiving, if i took the deal. guaranteed. my sister just got engaged. i would be at her wedding no matter what. i couldn't do it. >> why? >> because he owned me. i needed to be able to get my story out and i couldn't live like that. >> and so in november of 2014 kent county courthouse in grand rapids, abigail simon entered the courtroom to fight charges that theoretically could put her in prison for life, and to do so by claiming that she was the victim of a big, strong, abusive boy. >> ladies and gentlemen -- >> to which prosecutor helen brinkman replied, who does she think she is kidding. >> what this may be is practicing a play in the theater of the absurd.

>> abby was certainly not sexually assaulted, said the prosecutor. this, she told the jury, was an extremely inappropriate love story as evidenced by the testimony of the young man's mother. >> did you ever confront your son about this? >> no, i didn't. >> why not? >> because i knew he would run to her and tell her and it wouldn't be able to be exposed. he was madly in love with ms. simon, with his whole heart and his whole soul. >> the law is absolutely clear, said the prosecution, abby's behavior was illegal. abby's behavior was illegal. the boy was 15. the age of consent with a teacher is 18. why, they asked, would abby simon take him on day trips to chicago and notre dame where this photo was taken of the smiling couple if not for love? it was a disturbing story, they said. this told through abby's text messages. the prosecutor called one by one

abby's friends and had them read messages abby sent them, reflecting thousands of other texts that sounded very much like a woman in love with a boy. >> all that matters is that our hearts are skipping beats. all i need. i don't care if he's 20 or 50, i just need my heart skipping and that's all it is doing with this boy, parentheses, child. >> and it is concerning the only person whose company i enjoy here is a 15 year old. i will be upbeat starting now. do you deny receiving that text from her? >> no. >> the text after the picture of his face said, this is my child or that's my child, something like that. >> i never have had as much evidence against someone as i had in this case. never. she had texted so many people, bragging about her inappropriate relationship with this child and knowing that it was wrong, telling him that it was wrong, we can't keep doing this, i

could go to jail. >> and then the young man took the stand. spent parts of four days there, detailing an affair that he said lasted two months. we're not showing his face on camera in court. >> we both knew what we were doing was wrong. >> the prosecutor took him through hundreds more texts, all of those words of longing between a school tutor and a boy too young even to drive. >> says, i need you in my bed now. is that right? >> yes. >> so she says, she's telling you she needs you in her bed now and she's going to come and pick you up basically, right? >> yes. >> open and shut case, said the prosecutor. >> the text messages are the truth. they're not created with any other intent than to communicate what they want to communicate at the time. the text messages are the truth. >> now, after that avalanche of evidence against her, abigail simon was about to tell the jury the story she told us. but this time she would be seated across from a prosecutor

who couldn't wait for her turn with the defendant. >> announcer: coming up, tears. >> i'm trying to be honest up here and so disrespectful. >> announcer: and fireworks. >> you know, when you're in this situation -- >> the situation of being in love with a 15 year old? >> i wasn't in love with him. >> loving to have section with a 15 year old, right? >> no. >> with a great body, right? >> no. >> announcer: when "dateline" continues. >> no. >> announcer: when "dateline" continues. irping) lundberg family farms. ducking good rice. no matter what kind of teeth you gotta brush, oral-b electric cleans better with one simple touch. oral-b's dentist inspired round brush head hugs em, cleans em, and gets in between em, for 100% cleaner teeth. your perfect clean starts with oral-b.

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messages, a damning indictment of a boundary-crossing love affair between 33-year-old abigail simon and her then-15-year-old pupil. now abby's defense set out to turn the story on its head. >> it is not a love story. it is a control story. >> defense attorney michael manley told the jury that abby was the innocent party here, a victim held under the thumb of a controlling, dangerous young man who could snap at any moment. >> her mind, one punch could kill and no woman should ever have to go through what she went through. the evidence will show that this young lady that i'm so proud of is finally standing up against the bully. >> how to understand the psychology involved? the defense called an expert on domestic violence. >> the image we have of the violence used in domestic violence tends to be the black eye and a broken bone. the reality of the violence in

abusive relationships is that it tends to be low level, pushes, shoves, grabs. but having a cumulative effect over time, that is as frightening as severe violence can be. >> first, abby had to survive an abuse ordeal back in chicago, said the defense, and then at the school the boy relaunched the fear by slapping abby's face after their study session that night. so attorney manley launched a days-long cross-examination of the young man. he denied he ever slapped abby, except possibly playfully during sex. but then there followed one accusation after another. >> is this whole thing that you did to ms. simon so you could be popular, to say, i've got the hot tutor? that's not what you did? >> no. >> the defense told the jury the young man had changed his story several times, and, in fact, he had. in his first interview with

police, he said he forced abby to have sex with him, and twice said he put a gun to her head. >> you told detective lowry that you pointed a gun to her head and told her, that i would kill her if she didn't love me back? >> yes. >> detective lowry at the time didn't believe him for a minute, and later, sure enough, the young man recanted. said that putting a gun to her head comment was his effort to keep abby from getting into trouble. but the defense attorney flat-out accused the young man of sexual assault. >> you forced yourself on ms. simon in the car on the 24th of april, did you not? >> no, i did not. >> you didn't grab her by the hair and put her head into your lap? >> no. >> and finally the defense confronted him with what it said was proof of sexual assault, what it called the smoking gun text, the one you will recall which clearly suggested sex had taken place. in the text the boy apologizes,

promises to never put you through that again, baby girl. >> first of all, did you send that text message? >> yes. >> can you explain to the jury what that meant? >> never doing anything again in the car. >> and it is your testimony that that text message is only because it was uncomfortable in the car? >> yes. >> it was consensual between you two? >> yes. >> when he was finally allowed to leave the stand, it appeared that abby's defense and her freedom depended on the story she and she alone was about to tell. >> we would call abigail simon to the stand. >> the question? despite all of those text messages professing her deep and abiding love -- >> good morning, ma'am. >> -- would the jury, could the jury believe abigail simon's claim that she was a victim. >> ms. simon, would you raise

your right hand. >> you have been in therapy for 18 months now, correct? >> yes. >> are you ready to tell your story? >> yes. at one point i remember thinking like this is my life right now, like i'm doing this for a 15 year old. like how is this even possible. i'm his. he owned me. he owned me up until today when i got here to finally tell what happened. and he never thought i would come up here and tell the truth. he thought i would cover for him. >> of course, by taking the stand in her own defense to tell her story, abby simon knew she was opening herself up to what would no doubt be an intense cross-examination by prosecutor helen brinkman. the question we put to abby before the trial. >> the prosecutor is going to challenge you every which way to sunday and accuse you of all kinds of things. are you ready for that? >> the best part is i can just tell the truth. i can just be honest so i don't have to remember what was i supposed to say. i can just tell the story.

>> you never reported, right? >> but the prosecutor's opinion of ms. simon was clear from the start. >> you know, when you're in this situation -- >> the situation of being in love with a 15 year old? >> i wasn't in love with him. >> loving to have sex with a 15 year old, right? >> nope. >> with a great body, right? >> no. >> do you really thinks, a, if someone -- >> stop, you don't get to ask the question. >> when i'm trying to tell something and you roll your eyes or laugh about it, i'm trying to be honest up here and it is so disrespectful. >> the more she talked, the more she attacked me during cross-examination -- >> she was insulted that you didn't believe her? >> yes, and i was insulted that she thought someone would. >> who told you that you don't have to have proof? >> and for portions of two days it went just like that. >> i've never -- i never used the word rapist, i said he forced me against my will. >> where. i have the binder.

he states things as though they're fact without evidence. >> just a minute. things are getting out of control. >> you have no problems barking back, do you in. >> no. >> you are a strong person? >> after 18 months of therapy. it is the first time my dad said at lunch, it was the first time he saw -- >> objection, objection. >> finally the prosecutor asked if abby's text messages were the cry for help she claimed, why didn't she tell her father, the attorney who was in court with her every day and helped her escape the abuse she said she suffered years earlier in chicago. >> all you had to do was ask your dad, call your dad on the phone, i'm being beaten, i'm being raped. he is a lawyer. >> you know it is not that easy. you know it is not that easy. >> it is that easy. you did it before. >> women do this all the time. i can't -- >> just a minute. >> who told you that. >> just a minute. >> i've lived it. i have lived it and it is so scary and you can't go to the police right away, and you know that. >> finally, abigail simon left

the stand. >> any other rebuttal witnesses? >> it was the jury's turn.end ot trial? >> i worried because we don't hold women accountable like we do men. we don't. that's our society. i think people don't want to believe that women can be cunning and devious and child molesters, but they are. >> so abby simon for the moment as free as a bird, waited to find out if she would stay that way. >> announcer: coming up -- >> we the jury on count i on the charge of criminal sexual conduct -- >> announcer: the verdict when "dateline" continues. t when "dateline" continues

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♪ ♪ >> announcer: welcome back to "dateline." i'm andrea canning. abigail simon had told her side of the story and the jury was about to deliver her fate. here now is keith morrison with the conclusion of "a teacher's message." november 2014, just hours before the thanksgiving holiday was to begin. not a word from the jury for 12 hours. would they believe abby or the prosecution? but then they were back. >> and we're ready for the jury. >> abby simon seemed to be teetering on the brink, an emotional wreck. >> madam foreperson, if you would kindly stand, and by

reading from the form where it starts "we the jury." >> we the jury on count i, on the charge of criminal sexual conduct, first degree, we the jury find the defendant, abigail simon, guilty. >> oh, my god! >> abby's mother and sister cried out in anger and anguish. the jury just didn't believe her. >> on the charge of accosting a child for immoral purposes, we the jury find the defendant, abigail simon, guilty. >> oh, my god. >> and and on it went. >> guilty. >> oh, my god. >> four guilty verdicts, acquittal on the fifth. minutes later abigail simon went directly to jail. >> you are so strong, abby. >> outside the courtroom, defense attorney michael manley spoke. >> were you surprised by what happened in there? >> shocked. shocked and devastated. very disappointed in the jury's verdict. she's at peace. she already won. she told her story. she faced her accuser, and

nobody is going to hurt her again. >> but after listening to the defense attempt to paint abby as the victim, grand rapid's police detective dave gillian felt free to speak his mind. >> there was a level of victim bashing and victim blaming and throwing the victim, not only the victim but the family under the bus over and over. it is unprecedented in my 18 years. i have never seen anything to that degree. >> something got under your skin big time here. >> yes. this is a 15-year-old kid. you are a 35-year-old woman, 36-year-old woman, that you took advantage of and you're blaming -- not just blaming him, but accusing him of a crime that could put him in prison for the rest of his life. extraordinarily bothered me. >> because, he said, none of the evidence, not one thing suggested that the boy was in any way grove or abusive toward the woman he loved. >> all rise.

>> seven weeks later, after spending thanksgiving and christmas behind bars, out for sentencing came abigail simon, visibly diminished. when it was her chance to speak she said, perhaps no surprise, she regretted her decision to turn down the plea deal which would likely have meant mere months in jail in total. kicking herself really for, the way she put it, selfishly choosing to fight for herself rather than do what was best for her family. >> i'm so much more than remorseful. i don't know how to live with myself for putting my story above them. i'm so sorry for all of this. i cry all day and all night every day. i just want to go home and i want to climb in my mom's bed and never leave her side. i'm lost and i'm broken and i don't know how to go on without my family. i'm asking you to send me home

as soon as possible. >> doesn't begin to describe the scene in here. when it was time for the sentencing, she seemed to swoon, on the verge of passing out. deputies stepped in to steady her. >> are you okay? >> but judge paul sullivan made it clear he agreed with the jury's verdict. >> the evidence in this case was overwhelming. >> and he handed down a sentence that was in the middle range of possibilities. >> it is going to be the sentence of this court that the defendant be turned over to the michigan department of corrections to serve a period of incarceration of not less than 8, no more than 25 years. >> abigail simon absorbed the news of her sentence blankly, as if the words blew by her like a fastball. 8 to 25 years. a listed sex offender for life. >> hopefully this will be a lesson to any other teacher who wants to prey on another child. it doesn't turn out to be the fantasy they think it is.

>> all rise. >> we love you. we love you, abby. >> her family, who had invited us to their home to hear abby's side of the story, now declined to speak to us, declined our request for a comment of any kind, and directed attorney michael manley to do likewise. and the prosecutor? who just watched the end of her last case? is mostly sorry she had to bring it to court at all. >> i don't think you put a victim through what she put this victim through, not confessing, not being repentant. i hope she has time to consider what she did to that family, beyond what she did to that child. >> since then the young man's lawyers filed a lawsuit against sty mon claiming battery and emotional distress. the lawsuit also accused the local catholic diocese, two administrators and a coach of not protecting the young man from the tutor.

if march of 2017 the young man agreed to dismiss the case against sigh mond and a court held that the other defendants could not be found liable. as for that young man? he graduated to adulthood weighted with a sober reality. >> he will have to live with the fact the person he loved will be in prison for eight years. >> indeed. abigail simon served those eight years then was released on parole. love is blind sometimes, but this kind of love? not just a crime, it was a tragedy. >> announcer: that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm andrea canning. thanks for watching. andrea canng thanks for watching. good morning and welcome to this saturday edition of "morning joe" weekend. it was a busy week in politics so let's get to some of the conversations you might