DUBLIN — A former Bay Area firefighter narrowly avoided his child molestation trial by pleading no contest to four counts involving sexual offenses against minors, either by inappropriately touching them or filming them changing, records show.
Simon Meyer, 55, of Redding, pleaded no contest to two felony child molestation counts and a third misdemeanor charge, related to four victims aged 10-15. The first two counts say Meyer inappropriately touched two different girls in different incidents, while they were sleeping, and the third says he filmed two teen girls as they changed clothes together in his bathroom.
Meyer’s ultimate fate is up in the air. He faces up to eight years in prison through a deal negotiated with Alameda County prosecutors, but it will be up to Judge Paul Delucchi to make the final call. The sentencing hearing has been set for April 25, and in the meantime Meyer will remain out of custody.
Meyer entered the no contest pleas on Feb. 4, days before a jury was about to hear evidence against him. Prosecutors planned to bring testimony from four more women who claimed that Meyer had inappropriately touched them, but whose allegations didn’t lead to criminal charges. Two of them were girls 11 and 13 years old when the alleged incidents took place, and two others were 18, court records show.
Meyer used to live in Livermore. All four charged victims knew his family and were either at his home for pool parties or sleepovers, according to prosecutors. The case started when the two 15-year-olds discovered Meyer’s cellphone recording them changing in his bathroom, copied the video, told their parents and ultimately called police. They claimed Meyer insisted they use that specific bathroom and that the video showed him setting up the camera, according to court filings.
Meyer was a firefighter in San Mateo County until 2021, the same year the charges were filed. It is unclear whether he resigned or was fired. In 2022, police in Redding briefly listed him as a missing person but he was found shortly thereafter, and remained out of custody, records show.