Victims of Bruce Escott reveal the consequences of sexual abuse

Bruce Escott appeared in court on Friday morning, where he pleaded guilty to seven sex offences. As part of his plea deal, seven other charges were dropped. (Ryan Cooke/CBC)

WARNING: This article may impact people who have experienced sexual violence or know someone who has.

The victims’ words echoed in a packed St. John’s courtroom Friday afternoon as they described the lingering effects of being abused as youth by convicted serial killer Bruce Escott.

“The emotional impact this had on me ruined my life for years,” reads the statement of a victim who was sexually abused by Escott between 2009 and 2011.

“I was anxious, depressed and felt broken inside.”

Escott — an 82-year-old former taxi driver at the center of a massive sexual exploitation case in St. John’s — pleaded guilty Friday to seven charges.

That includes four cases of sexual assault, two cases of sexual interference and one case of sexual exploitation.

He pleaded guilty to at least one charge for each of the six victims he was accused of abusing. Seven other charges were dropped as part of a plea deal with the Crown.

Another man said in his victim impact statement that the abuse he suffered led him to substance abuse and made him ‘hateful and aggressive’. As a result, he spent nine years in prison.

He has severe anxiety, severe chest pain and finds it difficult to trust people. His relationship with his daughter suffered, leading to her being removed from his care.

Escott was convicted of sexual abuse from 2008 to 2012.

A third victim wrote in his statement to the court that he has “emotional scars” caused by the sexual abuse he suffered at the age of 14.

“I am in a lot of mental pain. I feel like this whole ordeal has taken away my innocence,” he wrote. “I will never forget what happened to me. I hope it doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

Escott lived in this trailer on Hussey Drive, which is now vacant. His home was seized by police after his arrest as they obtained search warrants to look for evidence. (Ryan Cooke/CBC)

Escott spent Friday in a St. John’s courtroom packed with the people who helped lock him up: police officers, social workers and one of his six victims.

Escott showed no emotion during the proceedings, which revealed the facts of his case.

They painted a picture of a man who preyed on teenagers with addiction problems and little family support.

The court heard Escott sometimes paid the young people for sex acts. Other times he took what he wanted for free by force.

The facts revealed two instances in which he raped his victims, including one on a remote road along the Trans-Canada Highway. The victim in that case ran away after the incident ended and hitchhiked back to St. John’s. In another case, a teenager woke up in the middle of the night when Escott forced himself on him.

Escott lived in a trailer near the airport in St. John’s, just down the street from his co-defendant, Tony Humby.

The agreed statement of facts in Escott’s case alleges that the two men worked together, with Escott often driving boys to Humby’s trailer and abusing them in the car.

Some victims described Escott as the more passive of the two and said Humby was much more powerful.

Humby, 64, has pleaded not guilty and will stand trial in March.

Escott will be back in court on January 31 for sentencing. He will likely not be sentenced that day, but at a later court appearance.

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