Former Allegan Aquatics Director sentenced to 7-15 years

By Jordan Wilcox
Assistant Publisher

Scott Simmons, the former Aquatics Director for Allegan Public Schools, will live the next 7-15 years behind bars, after pleading guilty to criminal sexual conduct with a student.
On Monday, Judge Matt Antkoviak of the Allegan County Circuit Court sentenced him to serve between 85 months and 15 years in prison, with a 43-day credit for time served. In March, Simmons pled guilty to three charges of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person at least 16 years old, but less than 18 years old.
Each charge of CSC came with its own 7-15 year sentence, but he will serve all three concurrently. He will also have to register as a known sex offender for the remainder of his life.
Both Judge Antkoviak and Prosecutor Myrene Koch, spoke after the sentencing. Judge Antkoviak called this a “very tragic case” while Prosecutor Koch spoke about the crime.
“I certainly believe this defendant deserves a lengthy sentence for what he did. We certainly prosecute cases like this for the named victim in this case, but we also want to make sure there are no other victims going forward,” Koch told reporters.
“So, by handling a case such as this and handling it with very swift and severe consequences, we think it is important to send that message to anyone else who may be involved in circumstances like this or other actions like this,” she said.
“The children in our communities need to be protected and that’s our job as adults to do that, to make sure they are safe and secure and don’t have to deal with circumstances like this growing up,” Koch said.
Prosecutor Koch also said that the victim felt that Simmon’s sentence was fair, and she now hopes to begin healing.
This case began back in September when officers noticed Simmons sitting in a parked car at Otsego’s Memorial Park with a teenage girl after closing.
Simmons claimed he was helping the teenage student with her “depression issues,” and she originally corroborated his story. However, she later confessed that she was lying to protect them both.
A search of the victim’s phone revealed several explicit messages exchanged between the two and evidence of their relationship dating back to August. There was also a “my eyes only” folder containing nude photos and videos of her, which according to detectives, Simmons had access to.
GPS data shows that they spent multiple nights together, including one in a Kalamazoo hotel room.
The victim also told law enforcement that Simmons would make advances towards her and perform sexual acts upon her. Court documents reveal that this was a very regular occurrence.
During the investigation, Simmons also admitted to sending at least one explicit photo to the victim, but claimed it was all an “elaborate scheme to destroy him”, and their encounters we’re “forced” by the victim threating him.
Simmons was arrested in early October, and immediately fired by APS.
In exchange for his guilty plea, seven additional charges were dropped, including the original ones from October. – Four additional counts of third-degree CSC, child sexually abusive material activity, using a computer to commit a crime, and fourth-degree CSC.
Interestingly enough, Simmons is the second former APS Aquatics Director to be charged with CSC against a student in 2023. In February 2023, James Baird, APS Aquatics Director from 2005 to 2010, was charged with sexually assaulting four girls aged 10 to 15 at three Metro Detroit schools. Those charges were dropped though.