A student who claims she was sexually assaulted by a professional photographer told police she “felt disgusted” and “blamed herself” following the alleged incident.
Simon ‘Sid’ Scott is facing more than a dozen charges of sexual assaults and indecent behaviour against young women and an underage girl – with many of the women modelling for the 44-year-old during photoshoots.
Scott, of Sunnyside Road, Aberdeen, denies all the charges against him.
On the second day of his trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, jurors were read a police statement from a 23-year-old student in which she accused Scott of fondling her breasts during a photoshoot.
The woman, who was studying at Robert Gordon University at the time, said Scott took her to isolated places, such as Denburn car park and an Aberdeen city centre underpass.
There she claims he asked her to remove her top and sexually assaulted her by touching her breasts, causing her to “freeze”.
Following this, the woman alleges Scott told her to change outfit before taking her to an underpass near Mounthooly Roundabout.
Woman claims photographer Simon Scott made her ‘bend over’
Reading out the police statement on the woman’s behalf, Detective Constable Neil Simpson stated that after Scott had asked the woman to remove her jeans and boots he then asked her to take off her bra.
“I didn’t want to do this but I was terrified of him so I took it off,” she told police.
“He then asked me to bend over and touch my toes.
“I had my eyes closed and I could just hear the traffic – a moment later I opened my eyes and found Simon Scott had moved behind me.”
The student went on to claim that Scott told her to put her hands on the wall of the underpass and bend over.
She told police that following the incident she “felt disgusted” and didn’t report it to police because she “blamed herself” for what had happened.
The woman wouldn’t report Scott to police until nearly two years after the incident.
During cross-examination, Scott’s defence advocate David Taylor suggested to DC Simpson that in asking the student to wear outfits that included mesh and leather, Scott was forewarning the woman of the sort of photographs he might take.
“Possibly,” the police officer replied.
“All the clothing that she wore during the photoshoot, it’s all her clothing, there’s no suggestion of Mr Scott supplying this clothing?” Mr Taylor asked.
“No,” DC Simpson said. “It was all her clothing.”
Woman says she ‘blacked out’ assault
Another alleged victim also gave evidence, claiming she feared for her life during a photoshoot with Scott.
The 26-year-old woman, who was 19 at the alleged incident, told the court that Scott asked her to close her eyes before pressing his genitals against her as she stood next to a mantelpiece in her home.
She alleges that during the shoot, Scott then sat next to her on her couch and moved his hand up her leg, which she tried to “black out”.
The woman further accused him of telling her to take her top off.
Asked by fiscal depute Lynne MacVicar how the alleged incident made her feel, she said: “It sounds so dramatic but I thought I was going to die.
“It was him standing behind me and my eyes were closed and I didn’t know what was going to happen or chat could happen.”
Mother of accused also gave evidence
Mr Taylor quizzed the woman as to whether she “may have been mistaken” about it being his client’s crotch that was pushing into her.
“No,” she replied.
He then asked her whether the contact “might have been fleeting?”
“No, it wasn’t fleeting,” she said. “He was there for a long time. It was enough for me to feel uncomfortable.”
Scott’s mother, Frances Scott, also gave evidence, stating that her son didn’t fill her in on the full details of the accusations he was facing because he “didn’t want to upset her”.
The trial, before Sheriff Morag McLaughlin, continues.
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