The Crown wants convicted sex offender Bruce Escott sentenced to 18 years for abusing six victims, most of them youths, over a period spanning decades.
The defence, meanwhile, suggested Escott get half that — nine years in total.
The man at the centre of it all said just 10 words when given an opportunity to address the court at his sentencing hearing Thursday.
“I’d just like to apologize to the victims,” Escott said. “That’s it.”
In her submissions, prosecutor Deidre Badcock called Escott “a prolific lifetime offender” despite his lack of a related criminal record, and zeroed in on the impacts of his crimes on those victims. One of them was sitting at the back of the courtroom.
“Bruce Escott sought out and befriended low-income group home kids, kids who had nowhere else to turn. Offered them friendship, money, food, cigarettes, alcohol, rides, and he did this as a means to groom them, to break down their barriers, and once he had them close enough he systematically and gratuitously abused them,” Badcock said.
“He benefitted [from] them, groomed them, all as a means to satiate his sexual deviancies. This is a predator, your honour, and it’s someone who’s deserving of a significant sentence.”
Badcock called Escott someone who “led a double life” for a number of years.
“In one life he’s a respected volunteer fire chief, community volunteer, husband, father, grandfather, brother — while simultaneously in another life, the more sinister aspects of his life, he’s seeking out and targeting the most vulnerable members of society,” Badcock said.
“Young, troubled, runaway teens with nowhere else to go. The kind of victims you wouldn’t expect to be believed, and they didn’t have anyone else to turn to at times.”
Defence cites Mount Cashel cases in submissions
Escott’s lawyer, MacKenzie Hughes, said his client “should not be used as a scapegoat … to inflate future sentences.”
He said it’s “common sense” that 18 years is a “crushing sentence” for someone who is 82 years old.
In arguing for less time behind bars for his client, Hughes cited sentences handed out to Christian Brothers implicated in the Mount Cashel scandal.
“There’s a big differentiation here, where these people were in a position of authority, acting as parents, and their sentences are significantly less than what the Crown is asking here today,” Hughes told the court.
“Our position is that what is happening here is the Crown is attempting to get an inflated sentence in this case … to set a precedent for future cases. Look no further than his co-accused.”
Escott’s co-accused, Tony Humby, has pleaded not guilty to dozens of charges, and is set for trial next month.
Humby and Escott were neighbours in a trailer park near the airport in St. John’s.
According to the agreed statement of facts in Escott’s case, victims described the two men as working together to abuse youths.
The document said conversations between Escott and Humby were found in Escott’s text message history.
The agreed statement of facts cites messages from one day in late 2022 that “show Humby and Escott were acting in concert and often passing the young victims between each other.”
Sentencing decision set for early March
Escott has been in custody since his arrest nearly two years ago. He appeared at Thursday’s sentencing hearing at provincial court in St. John’s by video from the correctional facility in Bishop’s Falls.
His lawyer calculated Escott’s time served to date at more than 1,000 days, with a time-and-a-half credit applied.
Judge Phyllis Harris is expected to give her decision on sentencing on March 4.
That’s the day after Humby’s seven-week trial is scheduled to begin.
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