Child Sex Assault Case Is 'Stark Reminder' Of Social Media Dangers: PD

RIVERSIDE, CA — A probationer accused of cultivating an online relationship with a 12-year-old girl, leading to multiple sexual assaults in Riverside over a five-month span, will stand trial on a dozen felony charges.

Robert Downing Scott Jr., 31, of Riverside was arrested last year following a Riverside Police Department investigation.

At the end of a preliminary hearing Thursday afternoon, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Walter Kubelun found there was sufficient evidence to warrant a trial on four counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, two counts each of lewd acts on a child, contacting a minor to commit a felony and possession of child pornography and one count each of using a minor to produce child porn and attempted oral copulation of a child.

The judge scheduled a post-preliminary hearing arraignment for Oct. 30 at the Riverside Hall of Justice and left Scott's bail set at $3 million. He was being held at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta.

According to Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback, Scott met the victim, identified in court documents only by her initials, "S.J.," in early February 2022 via social media and "groomed her" in ongoing conversations via the internet.

The defendant ultimately persuaded the girl to see him on several occasions, during which she was sexually assaulted, Railsback alleged.

The victim eventually told others what had allegedly happened, and the police department's Sexual Assault-Child Abuse Unit initiated an investigation in the first week of June 2022 that netted sufficient evidence for detectives to obtain an arrest warrant that was served on Scott in the area of University and Chicago avenues on the afternoon of June 22, according to police.

"This investigation is a stark reminder to parents and children about the dangers and risks associated with social media, and how easy children can become victimized by sex predators," Railsback said at the time.

According to court records, the defendant has a prior conviction for statutory rape.