Trial opens for suspended Gurnee cop accused of molesting children

Three little girls at a sleepover are not supposed to wake up with memories like this, a Lake County prosecutor said Tuesday.

But a man who has served six years as a police officer and has been honored for his work in sweeping the streets of drunken drivers should not be going through what Jay Simon is, his attorney countered.

Simon, 38, is on trial for molesting a young girl during a Nov. 13, 2006 sleepover at Simon's house, and he could face five years in prison if convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

A friend of the girl made a statement about the attack to an adult in May 2008, and Simon was arrested after an investigation by the Lake County Children's Advocacy Center.

Since then, the officer who was honored for his DUI enforcement efforts in 2006 and 2007 has been suspended without pay and his career hangs in the balance of this and two more trials to come.

"Children should be able to trust adults whose care they are in and police officers," Assistant State's Attorney Fred Day said in his opening statement.

"But this case is about a violation of that trust and the fear those little girls wound up with."

Day said the girls were in their sleeping bags in Simon's house trying to go to sleep, or pretending to do so.

The victim in this case, who was 10 years old at the time, told police she saw Simon in the basement of the house and he shined a flashlight in her eyes.

The girl told police Simon sat down behind her on a couch and fondled her, and that one of the other girls looked over when she made a sound.

The girls discussed what happened the next morning, Day said, and came up with a plan.

"They decided they would keep it a secret," Day said. "They talked about the fact that the defendant was a police officer and no one would believe them."

Defense attorney Carolina Deleon urged the jury of six men and six women seated before Associate Judge Theodore Potkonjak not to believe the girls.

She said the girls gave conflicting statements about what happened to police and their recollections of the events of that night have faded.

"The devil is in the details, and the details are what this case is all about," Deleon said. "The state says some of the details are 'fuzzy', but don't let them get away with that."

Deleon said it is also possible an adult with a grudge against Simon convinced the girls to lie about what happened in order to make Simon's life difficult.

Simon is also charged with predatory sexual assault of a child for an act against an 11-year-old girl the same night.

He also faces additional charges of aggravated assault and official misconduct for pointing his service weapon at another man in March 2007.

Day said trials of those two cases will be scheduled at the end of this trial, which is expected to continue today.