GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The 35-year-old former Catholic school tutor acknowledged that the idea her life was controlled by a high school sophomore seems bizarre and ridiculous, but she swears that is what happened.

Abigail Simon, the former Catholic Central High School tutor charged with four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct against a 15-year-old boy, took the stand in her own defense as the second week of her trial wrapped up in Kent County Circuit Court on Friday, Nov. 21.

In testimony punctuated with weeping, Simon said the teen within a matter of weeks in the spring of 2013 used physical intimidation, psychological manipulation and rape to control every aspect of her life - even to the point that she did what he wanted when she was on the other side of the country.

"My thoughts, my life, were consumed with making (the teen) happy," she said. "It was bizarre."

Over the course of the trial, the jury has seen numerous text messages between the woman and the teen professing love in the sloppiest, love-sick terms imaginable. Those texts also included explicit talk about sex.

The teen testified he was in love with the woman and all the texts and their sexual acts were done at her initiative or with her consent.

Simon paints a completely different picture, saying she was incapable of getting away from the boy’s control because he would threaten to kill himself or threaten her with violence.

"I can't believe I'm doing this for a 15-year-old," Simon said. "I know it sounds unbelievable."

Simon claims she was the victim of domestic violence in 2007 while she lived in Chicago by a man who threatened to kill himself as a means of control.

Simon said she came to Grand Rapids after working for professional sports teams in Chicago in hopes of getting a career in academic advising. She said she was ill-prepared for the $45,000 per year tutoring job she was hired to do at the Grand Rapids Catholic high schools, but she grew to love it.

Simon was questioned all day by her attorney, describing events from the beginning of their relationship that started with him slapping her after accusing her of spending too much time with other students she was tutoring.

She wept as she explained how the boy managed to get her to take him to restaurants, drive him to Chicago and South Bend and let him into her apartment all using threats against her and himself.

She said she got back from Chicago after spending St. Patrick’s Day 2013 there and found that the teen had meticulously arranged her formerly messy closet and desk.

"It was the creepiest thing to me," she said. She said she felt like she had "no control over anything.”

She said the boy demanded to see her cell phone and went through her messages.

She said she would send messages about him to her friends, leaving out his age, because it would placate him. She also accused the boy of sending text message from her phone referring to the teen as "little lover."

She said the boy sexually assaulted her in her Bridge Street NW apartment on at least two occasions. It was stark contrast to the boy’s testimony that she was the sexual aggressor and they had intercourse every other day.

"I hated him for it," Simon said of the alleged sexual assault against her. "He said he was sorry, 'sorry baby-girl.'"

"Everything in me just, like, broke," Simon said as she wept.

Simon said throughout the relationship she took the boy to public restaurants hoping to be discovered. She said she was desperate to leave Grand Rapids.

She said when police were finally alerted to the relationship in April 2013, she believed she was finally saved only to find that she was the one being charged with a crime. She said she lied to police hoping to protect the boy.

As she testified, Assistant Kent County Prosecutor Helen Brinkman was typing notes into her laptop computer. The prosecution is expected to question Simon Monday, Nov. 24 when the trial resumes for what is expected to be its last day before going to the jury.

E-mail Barton Deiters: bdeiters@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/GRPBarton or Facebook at facebook.com/bartondeiters.5