CHILD RAPIST STEP-FATHER JAILED
A woman who endured years of sexual abuse by her stepfather, who was her child's rapist, and her sister, has shared that a teacher failed to believe her when she reported her traumatic experience.Dominic Scott, a man from Dover, was responsible for a prolonged period of sexual misconduct against his victims, starting when one of them was only eight years old, over twenty years ago.
The 53-year-old man told one of the victims that their secret was safe and expressed love for her, while also threatening to kill the sisters if they revealed anything.
He further assaulted them when they attempted to resist.
Scott was sentenced to 18 years in prison at Canterbury Crown Court after a jury found him guilty of 16 crimes, including child rape and indecent assault.
Following a difficult court process where she had to recount her experience, one of the victims explained to KentOnline that she asked for help at Astor Secondary School in 1999, but her plea was ignored.
Her response was not only emotionally devastating but Scott exploited her disclosure as a weapon, which kept her silent for years and allowed the abuse to continue.
Both sisters have chosen to waive their right to anonymity and preferred not to be named, which permits detailed reporting of Scott’s crimes and case specifics that might otherwise remain confidential.
“Learning about what was done to my sister has caused me additional pain and guilt,” she told KentOnline.
“I feel as though I should have been able to do more to protect her, even though I know, logically, that I was a child myself at the time.
“This is something I continue to struggle with.” The woman, who was aged just 11 when the attacks began, described telling her teacher Scott “pulled my top up and done stuff to me”.
“I was 13 when I went to my teacher in 1999 at Astor Secondary School in Dover,” she said.
“I knew it wasn’t right.
I was embarrassed by it.
I told my friend, they told my teacher, and I ended up going to my teacher and telling her.
“She took me home the same day.
“Dominic and the teacher questioned me, and it didn't go anywhere.
“They came to the conclusion I was lying.” Rather than being made to feel safe after building the courage to tell an adult, she was left “embarrassed” and “isolated”.
“It affected every part of me,” she added.
“My school life - it wasn’t very nice.” In a desperate bid to cope, she “walked the streets” and spent Christmases by herself, all while carrying “a constant sense of shame and isolation”.
“After (not being believed), he carried on (the abuse) and would say nobody believed me the first time,” she added.
“He was the manager of a football team, and the majority of (the players) were police officers.
“He would say his friends were police officers and would threaten us with that, saying they wouldn’t believe me.” Aside from the sexual abuse, Scott used threats and violence to prevent the girls from speaking out.
“He threatened to kill us,” one sister said.
“He used violence on me.
He used to hit me.
He left a big handprint on my sister at one point.
Every time he came near me, I got nosebleeds through stress.” They said Scott trapped them in the family home, where he walked around naked, entered the bathroom while they showered and sexually assaulted one of them.
Meanwhile, the paedophile would molest her sister when he took her to swimming lessons or football matches.
“He pinned me to the floor, and I scratched his face,” she said.
“My sister is very quiet and different to me but would not fight him off until she got older.
Scott’s other victim says she has been “struggling for most of my life”, living with complex PTSD, severe depression and anxiety, and insomnia.
Such is the trauma the sisters have endured, one has self-harmed and tried to take her own life.
“For years I kept everything inside,” one sister said.
“I lived in silence, isolated, unable to tell anyone what had happened to me, unable to trust anyone enough to let them in.
“That isolation shaped me.
I distanced myself from friends because I couldn’t confide in anyone.
I felt alone for so long, even when I wasn’t.
“I still live in constant survival mode.
My body and mind are always on edge, like something bad is about to happen.
“I experience flashbacks, nightmares, and triggers from the smallest things – footsteps, certain coloured cars and unexpected sounds.
“I find it hard to talk to people I don’t know; I freeze when people try to hug me or touch me.
“Even normal contact can feel overwhelming.” She says returning to her hometown is “extremely difficult” because it is where “so many painful memories live”.
The seven-year wait for trial was “incredibly hard”, she said, while the six-day hearing was “overwhelming and deeply distressing”.
“For so long, I felt broken, unloved and unworthy because of this trauma that overshadows every day of my life, like a big black cloud,” she added.
“People say I’m strong, but I don’t feel strong.
I feel like I’ve just been surviving my whole life, constantly in fight or flight mode.
“Even now, every day is a struggle.
“The abuse didn’t just happen in the past – it affects me constantly.” On the child not being believed, a Kent County Council spokesperson said safeguarding in schools has “developed significantly over time, with a much stronger focus today on listening to children and taking action where concerns are raised.” They added children’s “safety and wellbeing” is the “highest priority, both within schools and across all the services that support them.” Scott, of Winchelsea Street, was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court on June 12 following a trial in April.
During much of the hearing, including as the women read their victim impact statements, Scott looked emotionlessly towards the public gallery, where his supporters were sitting.
Sixteen relatives and friends of the victims attended the sentencing.
Scott wore a blue polo shirt and carried a duffle bag into the dock.
Prosecutor Ben Wild described how Scott subjected one victim to multiple indecent assaults from the age of eight.
“He would say it was their secret and that he loved her,” he said.
“The victim said it happened more than 10 times.” Scott was convicted of 11 counts of indecent assaults on two girls between 1998 and 2006.
He was also convicted of two counts of rape against two girls under 16 in 2003 and 2004.
Scott was also found guilty of one count of sexual activity with a child between 2004 and 2006, and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity between 2004 and 2006.
Mr Wild told the court how the paedophile intimidated his victims to stop them from speaking out.
“Mr Scott threatened to kill her if she told anyone,” he said.
Judge Edmund Fowler commended the victims for their bravery when he sentenced Scott.
He said there was “an abuse of trust” and that he “sought to isolate them”.
“This was prolonged abuse for years in both cases and has had a devastating impact on their lives,” he said.
Scott was jailed for 18 years, with a two-year extended licence period.
Judge Fowler said he must serve at least 12 years in custody before becoming eligible for parole.
