Judge Pulls Plug on Sex Offender’s Internet Use

A 63-year-old Oxnard man was banned from the Internet and forbidden from using a personal computer Tuesday as part of his sentence for soliciting lewd acts with a child on-line.

John Simmons, a retiree now working as a gas station attendant, pleaded guilty in August to trying to solicit sex and pornography with a 13-year-old girl named “Judy” he met in an America Online chat room.

In addition to the ban on using a computer during four years’ probation, Simmons must also serve eight months in county custody in a work release program.

According to prosecutors, Simmons communicated with the girl--who was actually an undercover Oxnard police officer--for about a month through e-mail and chat rooms.

When Simmons suggested a liaison at an Oxnard park, police arrested him. He was later charged with several sex crimes, including attempting to manufacture child pornography and attempting to send harmful material to a minor with the intent to seduce.

“He said he intended to have sex with her and take pictures of them having sex,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Tom Temple.

At Simmons’ sentencing hearing, Temple urged Superior Court Judge Bruce Clark to strip the defendant of his access to a computer during a four-year probation.

Ventura attorney David Shain objected.

“Mr. Simmons is still in the work world,” he said of his client. “To suggest a person in this day and age not use a computer is unwarranted.”

Shain told the judge that his client is a good man who led “an exemplary life” before this. He said Simmons has a sexual addiction and is seeking treatment. He said Simmons is not a child molester, but someone lured into the anonymous world of the Internet.

Shain argued in favor of a six months in the work release program.