Jury selection began Wednesday in the trial of a probationer accused of cultivating an online relationship with a 12-year-old girl, leading to multiple sexual assaults in Riverside over a roughly five-month span.
Robert Downing Scott Jr., 34, of Riverside, was arrested in 2022 following a Riverside Police Department investigation.
Scott is charged with seven counts of lewd acts on a child, five counts of aggravated sexual assault of a minor, two counts of contacting a minor to commit a felony and possession of child pornography, and one count of using a minor to produce child porn.
Pretrial motions concluded Tuesday, and on Wednesday morning, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Emma Smith summoned multiple panels of prospective jurors to the Riverside Hall of Justice for screening as to their availability and qualifications.
Opening statements were anticipated early next week. Scott is being held in lieu of $3 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center.
According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney’s Office, the victim, a Riverside girl, encountered the defendant in November 2021 while chatting via the social media site “Spotafriend.”
Scott allegedly admitted he was then 30 years old and asked her during a later conversation whether she was interested in being a “friend with benefits,” according to the brief. The girl affirmed and sent compromising photographs of herself after he requested them, according to the narrative.
Their first physical encounter occurred before Christmas of that year, when he retrieved the child — whose mother was at work — using an Uber, taking her to his RV parked in the area of Chicago and University avenues, the brief alleged.
During the overnight rendezvous, the defendant allegedly fondled the girl and snapped photos of her nude for a lengthy period before engaging in intermittent intercourse that lasted all night, according to court papers. The next morning, she left freely and returned home via a ride for which the defendant paid, according to the brief.
The victim later told authorities that Scott had a “Daddy” fixation and enjoyed placing baby pacifiers in her mouth while taking pictures, the brief said, adding that she acknowledged never knowing her biological father and didn’t mind when “the defendant would tell her to call him `Dad.”’
“The defendant would call (the girl) his `daughter,”’ the narrative said. The girl “indicated that she felt like a kid again, and that if she were to tell him what he wanted, he wouldn’t do anything bad.”
From December 2021 to June 2022, there were numerous encounters between the two, either at Scott’s mobile home, or at motel rooms he’d reserved, court papers alleged. Investigators said there were occasions in which he was short of money and asked the youth to swipe funds from her mother’s accounts for his use, which she did.
The victim described instances in which she engaged in both vaginal and anal intercourse, enduring physical trauma about which she tried not to complain, the brief alleged. However, on one occasion, she insisted that Scott “stop” while in bed, even attempting to kick him away, but he allegedly covered her mouth and continued until he was “finished,” according to the brief.
The alleged encounters were ultimately uncovered by the girl’s mother, who came across the explicit conversations her daughter had been having with Scott after checking the child’s cell phone, documents said.
After detectives confirmed he was on active probation for a prior conviction for statutory rape, he was arrested without incident near downtown Riverside on June 22, 2022.
If convicted of the current charges, he could face life in prison.