A PURPLE Heart recipient who faked his death at sea after impregnating a 14-year-old girl has been sentenced following a trial.
Jacob Blair Scott received the Purple Heart in 2011 for injuries he sustained while serving in Iraq, according to the US Marshals Service – the same service that had Scott listed on its list of 15 most wanted fugitives prior to his 2020 arrest. Now, he’s been sentenced to 85 years in prison.
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Scott evaded police for nearly two years before he was arrested in 2020. He was 40 when he sexually assaulted the girl, who was 14 at the time.
Scott initially faced charges including sexual battery, touching a child for lustful purposes, and exploitation of a child, according to the US Marshals, who also state that the teen was Scott’s stepdaughter.
He was out on bond in July 2018 when he failed to appear for a hearing. Instead, Scott faked his death by leaving a gun and a suicide note in a small boat near the coast of Orange Beach in Alabama.
The US Marshals said the boat was searched but forensic evidence did not indicate that a suicide took place. In addition, after a week-long search, Scott’s remains were not found.
It was later discovered that Scott withdrew $45,000 from the bank before he disappeared, the US Marshals said.
In late January 2020, Scott was placed on the Marshals’ 15 most wanted list. The service had offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
Less than 24 hours later, Scott was found living in a mobile home park in Oklahoma under another person’s name and was arrested.
His victim testified during the trial, stating that she was sexually assaulted by Scott around 30 times in 2016 and 2017. The abuse stopped when she got pregnant, she said, adding that she gave birth to the child.
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During the trial, Scott said he suffered from post-traumatic stress and had mental issues at the time the abuse and crimes were committed. He also reportedly begged Jackson County Circuit Judge Kathy King Jackson to consider his mental state before the sentencing.
Photos surfaced of Scott crying on the stand during his testimony, during which he reportedly blamed the victim and spoke of his struggles after fighting in Iraq.
“She wanted me to scratch her back,” Scott said, per The Sun-Herald.
“I had sex with [her] because she came on to me.”
But he was convicted on June 2 on nine counts of sexual battery, four counts of touching a child for lustful purposes, and one charge of exploiting a minor. He was sentenced to 85 years in prison and ordered to pay $10,000 in fines.
Jackson said, “The evidence is overwhelming.”
“It’s more evidence than I’ve probably ever seen.”
District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath called the crime “brazen and so vile.”
“This is about blaming the 14-year-old. This whole trial was about humiliating the 14-year-old who had no choice.”
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