PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island man who admitted to federal authorities that he used a cellphone to record himself sexually assaulting two teenage girls has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
In one case in February 2017, Francis Scott pretended to be a driver for a ride-hailing service and offered to give a 15-year-old girl a ride to school, the U.S. attorney’s office in Providence said. Instead, he drove her to a secluded area, took away her phone and recorded himself assaulting her, prosecutors said.
Following his arrest in that case, a 17-year-old girl came forward and said that after offering her a ride, Scott gave her alcohol and marijuana and sexually assaulted her, prosecutors said.
“This degradation, exploitation, and depravity represented by this defendant’s abuse of his victims — and his recording of those acts for his own obscene enjoyment, are contemptible,” U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha said in a statement Thursday, when Scott was sentenced.
Scott, 42, of North Providence, pleaded guilty in June to sexual exploitation of a minor and possession of child pornography.
His lawyer asked for a 25-year sentence, citing Scott’s remorse, cooperation with investigators, and his own troubled childhood that included heavy drug use by his parents and a sexual assault by a woman who was supposed to be caring for him.
