‘What if it was your kid?’: Family of teenage rape victim angry after charges dropped
A month ago, a 39-year-old man was arrested and charged for allegedly sexually assaulting Amber’s teenage daughter. Weeks later, he walked out of jail a free man after the state dropped the charges.
“I was glad he was arrested and he should still be in there now,” Amber said. The Sun News is not using Amber’s last name to protect the identity of her daughter, who is an alleged rape victim. “Because he’s out, he can do this to someone else.”
Judicial systems often move at a snail’s pace, but for Amber’s family it was over before it began. And without a result they desired. Amber now has questions for those that decided not to continue the case against the accused rapist.
“What if it was your kid? What would you do?”
A mother’s concern
The family’s saga started in October after the teen got in an argument with her mom, Amber. Amber went to another room and it wasn’t until an hour later that she realized her daughter had left.
It wasn’t the first time the teenager left, so Amber didn’t panic.
She went outside and spoke to neighbors who said the teen used their phone. Her daughter had called an Horry County group home, which said they could pick her up at an S.C. Highway 9 Food Lion. The neighbors also spoke to the group home, who told them the same thing.
At this point, the teen had an hour head start and started walking to the grocery store.
Amber and her husband headed to the group home.
As she walked along the road, the teen met Johnny Scott, 39. Amber said she didn’t know how her daughter ended up in Scott’s car, but she got in.
Her parents had no idea about the meeting.
Amber and her husband went to the group home, which she said was not forthcoming with information. Because the home wouldn’t confirm if their daughter was inside, they believed she was, Amber said.
They returned home, where Amber didn’t sleep well that night. The next morning she planned to resume the search and return to the home. It was then Horry County police called.
“When I got the call, they said she had been sexually assaulted,” Amber said. “I was like, ‘Let me go to her.’ They were like, ‘no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Wait, we’ll call you back.’ I was like, ‘No, I’m going to go see her.’
“When I got there she was tore up, she had bruises around her neck from this guy,” Amber said, holding her hands up around her throat to demonstrate where the bruising was visible.
Police make an arrest
An Horry County police report details what allegedly happened between Scott and the victim. The teen told police that Scott picked her up near a S.C. 9 CVS and took her to Tabor City, North Carolina, where he sexually assaulted her.
Detectives later determined the assault did not happen in Tabor City, but in the Flagpatch area of Horry County, the report states.
On Jan. 13, Horry County police charged Scott with second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor. He was booked into J. Reuben Long Detention Center and held on a $75,000 bond. A month later, Amber and her daughter met with an assistant solicitor, who informed them they were dropping the charges.
“They said that her story had changed a little bit and they couldn’t put her on the witness stand,” Amber said.
The mom questioned whether DNA evidence could be used and was told no. The anger overwhelmed her.
“I said, ‘ya’ll going to let that piece of crap go,’” Amber said.
Jimmy Richardson, the Solicitor for the 15th Judicial Circuit, said there was enough probable cause evidence for an arrest. But, the standard for a conviction is higher.
The teen changed her story several times and the state would have to provide each of those statements to Scott’s defense lawyers, Richardson said. Once it became apparent that the state could not prosecute the case, they had to drop the charges.
“It makes your case unprosecutable,” Richardson said.
Within an hour of meeting with solicitors, Amber said Scott was released from jail. She received an automated message from J. Reuben Long Detention Center that informed her a suspect in her case was released. The message added if there were future concerns to call 911.
The teen continues to receive treatment and counseling, her mom said. She struggles with anger and acts out against her mom.
“She’s struggling,” Amber said. “She really is. I don’t think she’ll ever get over this because it was so bad.”
