Rhode Island Man Sentenced For Sexually Assaulting Teen Girls On Video

NORTH PROVIDENCE, RI — A Rhode Island man who admitted he sexually assaulted two teen girls while recording them on his cellphone was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in federal prison.

Francis Scott, 42, of North Providence, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of possession of child pornography.

Scott admitted that on Feb. 17, 2017, he posed as a ride-share driver and offered a 15-year-old girl a ride to her Providence school. Rather than driving her to the school, Scott drove the girl to a secluded area behind some commercial buildings.

Then, Scott took the girl's cellphone, coerced her and sexually assaulted her. Scott admitted he recorded the assault on his phone.

Scott also admitted to coercing and sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl a few months before the Feb. 17 assault. Federal prosecutors said Scott admitted he offered the teen a ride, provided her with marijuana, and then sexually assaulted her.

Prosecutors said the victim told police Scott also gave her alcohol, and she felt drugged before passing out. Scott also made a video of this sexual assault, prosecutors said.

"The 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. "Today’s sentence should serve notice that we will bring to bear every law enforcement resource to address this kind of appalling abuse of children."

According to court documents, the Providence police and the FBI also discovered videos Scott filmed of him engaging in sex acts with several women, some of whom appear in the videos to be unconscious or semi-conscious.

Following Scott's prison sentence, he must serve 20 years of federal supervised release.