PHOENIX — An Arizona jury on Wednesday convicted a founder of the Minuteman border-watch group of molesting one young girl, but it acquitted him of engaging in sexual conduct with another.
Christopher Allen Simcox was found guilty on charges that he molested a 5-year-old girl and showed her pornography. He was acquitted of the more serious charges that he engaged in sexual conduct with a 6-year-old girl.
Chris Simcox
A molestation conviction carries a sentence of 10 to 24 years in prison. Simcox, 55, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 5.
Prosecutors alleged that Simcox molested the younger girl and engaged in sexual conduct with the older girl during an 11-month period ending in May 2013.
In closing arguments, a prosecutor scoffed at Simcox's claim that the girls were pressured by adults to bring the allegations. Simcox, who isn't a lawyer but nonetheless represented himself at trial, told jurors that he didn't abuse the girls.
His arrest in 2013 came after his career as an advocate for tougher immigration policies had fizzled.
The Minuteman movement stepped into the spotlight in 2005 when illegal immigration heated up as a national political issue. Minuteman volunteers fanned out along the nation's southern border to watch for illegal crossings and report them to federal agents.
The movement splintered after Simcox and another co-founder parted ways and headed up separate groups.
Simcox, who once served as publisher of the Tombstone Tumbleweed newspaper, went on to briefly enter Arizona's 2010 U.S. Senate primary against incumbent John McCain but dropped out of the race. His name didn't appear on the ballot.
More than a decade ago, Simcox was sentenced to two years of probation for misdemeanor convictions in federal court for carrying a concealed handgun at the Coronado National Memorial near the Arizona-Mexico border in January 2003.
Earlier in the sex abuse case, Simcox drew the ire of prosecutors and victim representatives when he insisted that he should be allowed to personally question the girls while they take the witness stand.
Prosecutors argued that letting Simcox question the girls would cause them emotional distress.
In the end, Simcox got an attorney advising him to pose the questions.
