Man on probation charged with sexual battery of second victim, a girl under the age of 12

Staff report

Updated on April 20 with pre-trial detention information.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Mack Arther Simmons II, 30, has been charged with sexual battery of a second victim, a girl under the age of 12; he has also been charged with sexual battery and lewd and lascivious molestation of a different young teenage girl.

Click here for our article about the case involving the first victim.

Both of the victims came forward recently to report the incidents, and the second victim reportedly said Simmons invited her into his residence to play video games or watch TV, and then he would turn off the lights and rape her. She said the incidents stretched over about five months, and she was under the age of 12 when the incidents started. The UF Child Protection Team reportedly verified that the victim suffered sexual abuse.

Simmons has been charged with sexual battery of a victim under the age of 12 (a capital felony) and sexual battery of a victim between the ages of 12 and 18, along with charges in a second case of sexual battery of a victim under 18 years old and two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim under 16 years old.

Simmons has 24 felony convictions, mostly burglary and grand theft, from offenses committed in Santa Rosa County when he was 17. All but one of the sentences were concurrent 5-year sentences, but one sentence was for 11 years, and he was released in June 2024 to serve four years of probation. He is being held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold him without bail until trial. On April 20, Judge Robert Groeb granted the motion and ordered him held without bail until trial.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.