A man who sexually assaulted a teenager while she slept after a party, leaving her “completely shattered”, has been jailed for four years and three months.
Newcastle Crown Court heard Stephen Scott, 26, had unwanted sexual contact with the young woman on a number of occasions as she froze with fear.
The victim said she felt like she was living a nightmare and that Scott’s attempts to change his plea after initially admitting to his actions only made her trauma worse.
Scott, from South Shields, admitted three counts of sexual assault.
Judge Thomas Moran said he apologized to the woman the morning after the attack but she had the “courage” to report him to police.
The court heard Scott initially pleaded guilty and then attempted to withdraw his plea, which prolonged the court proceedings and left the victim worried about having to give evidence.
“Lost, scared and empty”
In a statement read to the court, the woman said waiting for the case to be resolved was “absolute torture”.
She said she felt some relief when Scott initially admitted the “horrible things” he had done, but that feeling “crumbled” when he tried to go back on his words.
She said that before the attack she was “loving life” and “had no care in the world” but that Scott’s behavior had turned her into the “absolute worst”, adding: “I don’t recognize the person I am now.”
She said she felt like she was living a nightmare, feeling “lost, scared and empty” and “utterly broken”.
But she said she was trying to get help and “won’t let that evil boy ruin my life”.
Judge Moran said the woman described feeling “trapped and frozen” during the “ongoing” assault, a typical reaction, while Scott ignored her pleas for him to stop.
Scott lied to police that no sex had taken place and then claimed he had no memory of the attack, which the judge said was “extremely unlikely to be true”.
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