A man from Woonsocket admitted while in federal court that he had coerced and sexually assauletd 2 teenage girls while also filming them years ago.
Francis Scott, 41, while in the U.S. District Court pleaded guilty to 2 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, and 1 count of possessing child pornography after sexually assaulting 2 teenage girls years ago and had captured the acts while recording on his cellphone.
He faces a mandatory 15 years in prison, and up to 80 years behind bars during his sentencing before Judge William E. Smith back in September.
The Providence police arrested Scott back in February 2017 after the authorities said that a 15 year old girl had told officers that a man had posed as an Uber driver and lured her into his car. He then parked behind a shopping plaza and sexually assaulted her.
According to the teen’s father, he had reportedly dropped her off at Providence Career and Technical Academy on Valentine’s Day, but the girl had walked to the gas station to buy tea before her class.
Francis Scott, 36, allegedly pulled over to talk to her on her way back to school, according to police.
According to the U.S. Assistant Attorney, Denise Barton, the teen asked Scott, who was posing as an Uber driver for a ride back to school. He instead drove her to a parking lot and asked her to engage in sex acts.
After refusing his propositions, Scott had taken her cellphone and warned he would not return it unless she performed sex acts. According to Barton, the teenager told him that she did not know how. Scott then sexually assaulted the teenager while recording it on his cellphone.
He then asked the teen for sex and told her she was “not going to get rides for free”, Barton had said. After she repeatedly refused his advances, he
Scott, in his prison clothes, read along as Barton had relayed the facts to the court room.
When asked if he agreed with the facts, he told Smith that he did.
His lawyer, Noah Kilroy said after the proceedings, “He’s taken responsibility. He understands the gravity of his offenses and the impact on the victims. He’s very remorseful.”
According to Kilroy, apparently they were not able to reach a plea agreement with the government. It is unclear how the guilty plea will factor into these state charges that he faces. He remains in jail.
Additionally, he was accused of a felony assault, first-degree sexual assault and second-degree robbery, as well as three more counts of second-degree sexual assault for allegedly forcing sexual acts on another woman. So far, Scott hasn’t plead not guilty to those charges.
He is being held at Adult Correctional Institutions since he was first arrested in 2017, and he will ultimately get credit for the time he has served.
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