Michael Scott, a ‘predatory’ child rapist Linthorpe Paedophile, has been incarcerated for over a decade after preying upon a vulnerable little girl two decades prior.
Michael Scott, with multiple convictions for sexual offences, was convicted of raping a young child during a trial at Teesside Crown Court.
The 45-year-old’s heinous assault has left his young victim scarred, and she continues to grapple with the repercussions of his rape.
In a victim impact statement, she informed the court that she had experienced anxiety throughout her upbringing and into adulthood, along with difficulties in trusting others.
She said: “It is still affecting me now; I have anxiety and depression; I have relentless nightmares and it have affected the way that I parent.
“It has affected my relationships and day-today life.”
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she suffered a mental breakdown in the lead up to Scott’s trial and is still receiving therapy to deal with her trauma.
She added: “I would like Michael Scott to go to prison for as long as possible as it will help me move on knowing he is not out there somewhere. He will do this to someone else, he has done it before, he has done it to me and he will do it again.
“He doesn’t deserve to be free to sexually abuse any more children.”
Paul Abrahams, prosecuting, said the defendant was jailed for five years and eight months in 2018 for sexual offences and had also been jailed in April 2006 for six years for sexual assault.
Michael Scott, of Dufton Road, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, Cleveland, TS5, was found guilty of a single count of rape, which occurred in the late 90s, despite refusing to take part in the trial.
Lee Fish, in mitigation, said his client continues to deny the offence, which predates all the offences that he has already been convicted for, and accepts that he does pose a risk of re-offending.
Judge Paul Watson KC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, branded Michael Scott a ‘predatory sexual offender’ as he locked him up for 12 years and issued him with a one-year extended licence.
He said: “It’s plain from her victim impact statement the offence of rape you committed towards her has had a lasting and damaging effect on her.”
Michael Scott was issued with an indefinite sexual harm prevention order, ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register for life, and an indefinite restraining order.
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