STUART SIMMONDS SHOCKS STEVENAGE WITH REPEATED SEXUAL ASSAULTS AND JAIL SENTENCE

In a disturbing series of events that have left the community of Stevenage deeply unsettled, Stuart Simmonds, a resident of Collenswood Road, has been at the center of a troubling pattern of sexual offenses. The latest incident involved a 15-year-old girl, but the history of Simmonds’s actions stretches back to a previous assault on a young woman who was just a child at the time.

According to reports, the woman, whose identity remains protected for legal reasons, was sexually assaulted by Simmonds when she was walking home from school in Stevenage. The details of the attack are harrowing: she recounted how she encountered Simmonds, who was seen pacing back and forth in front of some woods near her route. As she entered the wooded area, Simmonds followed her and then suddenly grabbed her from behind, pinning her to the ground. Despite the assault, the victim managed to scream for help and fled the scene, running all the way home in a state of shock.

The perpetrator, 22-year-old Stuart Simmonds, was eventually convicted of sexual assault. His sentencing included a six-month detention and training order, a penalty that many in the community feel was insufficient given the gravity of his actions. The victim’s mother, who also cannot be named publicly, described the day her daughter was attacked as a traumatic event that left her devastated. She recounted how her daughter was walking home from school when she saw Simmonds loitering in front of the woods, and how he followed her into the wooded area before attacking her.

Following the assault, the young woman’s life was profoundly affected. Her academic performance declined, and she was diagnosed with depression. She expressed her ongoing fears, stating, “It’s always going to affect me going anywhere on my own. It has made it impossible to walk up the street without being in a panic. I have been looking over my shoulder and almost running to my door. Since it happened, my life has been really difficult.”

Two weeks prior to the recent incident involving the 15-year-old girl, Simmonds had pleaded guilty to attempting to rape her. The court sentenced him to eight years in prison for that offense. The victim of that attack, who cannot be identified, shared her feelings about the sentence, saying, “I was gutted with the sentence he got for me because it made me feel worthless. At least this girl got that her life was worth something. I felt like my life and my pain were worth nothing. Obviously that sentence didn’t teach him a lesson.”

The mother of the recent victim expressed relief that Simmonds had finally been jailed, noting that it was the first time since her daughter’s attack that she felt a sense of safety. “I don’t think we ever doubted this was going to happen again,” she said. The community and the victims’ families continue to grapple with the impact of Simmonds’s actions, hoping that justice will bring some measure of closure and safety for those affected.