Clifford Scott: Analyst’s relationship with 13-year-old girl

A Pakenham banker who used to lure a Year 7 girl from school for lunchtime hook-ups in his car has learnt his fate in court.

Clifford Scott sexually penetrated a 13-year-old when he was an adult.

A Pakenham banker has been exposed for having a sexual relationship with a Year 7 student, who he used to sneakily take from her school at lunchtime.

Clifford Scott, 28, was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections with 100 hours’ community work order before the County Court on Friday, having pleaded guilty to sexual penetration of a child under 16.

The court heard Scott was 18 or 19 when he preyed on a 13-year-old girl in 2011.

Scott repeatedly drove to the girl’s school on her lunch break, and would take her on drives to nearby locations, where they would sit and kiss before he dropped her back to class.

The apprentice plumber told the girl he loved her before she invited him to her house one night when she was home alone.

The court heard the pair were watching a movie and kissing her when he penetrated her.

It was heard the young teenager then faked an orgasm so Scott would stop penetrating her.

Scott and the girl’s relationship was uncovered when a teacher saw her in Scott’s car and the school reported it to her parents.

The girl’s father then confronted Scott and the relationship ceased.

The court heard Scott had been an apprentice plumber at the time of the relationship and knew that the girl was vulnerable and had mental health issues.

She did not report the relationship until January 2019 and Scott was arrested in March 2019.

Scott denied his crime to police, saying he had only kissed the girl.

He told police believed he was 19 at the time, but the exact date of his offending has not been confirmed.

A victim impact statement read to the court revealed the girl had gone on to suffer trust issues following her interaction with Scott, which she labelled “awful” and “degrading”.

“I looked to you as the older adult,” her statement read.

The court heard Scott had no criminal history.

Scott’s lawyer said the incident was “an anomaly” for the Garfield-raised man, who had left school after being bullied and was in his own unstable position at the time.

It was heard he had gone on to study a diploma of IT at RMIT and was working as a quality analyst for Westpac.

However, Westpac denied Scott was an employee, saying he had only done work for the company through a contractor.

The court heard Scott had told his employer about the charges and was living with his long-term partner of a similar age in Pakenham.

At the plea hearing. Judge Meredith agreed Scott seemed to be living a very positive life since the offending, noting there had “been a considerable passage of time” since it occurred.

But Judge Meredith noted the age difference between Scott and the girl had been far from insignificant.

The Judge said she accepted that Scott was sufficiently remorseful and was deemed a low risk of reoffending.