‘Egregious.’ Man accused of sexually torturing children as a teen in Pasco headed to prison
Scott Hancock left behind a trail of suffering across four states after torturing and raping 18 children.
His horrific crimes stretched from Pasco to Utah, Oregon and California, court documents said.
The victims’ stories of grief and betrayal made up much of the four-hour sentencing hearing on Thursday for the 22-year-old man who was described as a serial rapist.
“This is probably one of the most egregious cases that I’ve seen in all my career,” Judge Norma Rodriguez said as she sentenced him to two decades in prison. “It didn’t just involve the molestation (and) rape of children. It involved the torture of children.”
Hancock entered an Alford plea to two counts of first-degree child molestation and one count of first-degree child rape.
The Alford plea means he doesn’t admit to committing the crimes, but felt it was likely he could be convicted of them. He faced between 20 and 26 years in prison.
Rodriguez’s decision came after she said she wouldn’t follow an agreement that would have put him in prison for 17 years without more proof that he should receive that long of a sentence.
Hancock’s crimes began to be uncovered in 2019 and he has since been convicted in Utah, Oregon and now Washington. They all happened while he was still a juvenile, but the timing of the charges meant he faced them as an adult.
Defense Attorney Tim Dickerson said the way the punishment was handled was unfair. While he didn’t want to diminish the suffering the victims went through, he said his client was still a teenager when the crimes were committed.
“These acts that you’ve heard about today happened across three different jurisdictions,” he said. “I want the court to understand that Mr. Hancock has been in custody since he was 16 years of age.”
Dickerson said he’s been moved between jurisdictions until he reached Franklin County.
Hancock didn’t speak at his sentencing.
Abuse
Pasco police became involved in the investigation after one of Hancock’s victims was caught abusing another child.
Hancock started grooming the child when the boy was only 5, court documents said. The abuse happened in Oregon, California and Utah, as well as Pasco.
He also forced that child to rape other children, according to court documents.
Police believe the last time he abused the child was in 2018 when Hancock was 15.
He also abused three other young children in a Pasco home.
He was arrested in Utah after he left one young child severely scarred and allegedly molested three other children.
When police interviewed him in 2019, he admitted to inappropriately touching about 14 children, according to court documents. He didn’t provide any other details about the other abuse. Hancock was 17 at the time.
Victims at the sentencing said they’ve discovered 18 children who have been abused. He left the children mentally and physically scarred. Some of his crimes happened when the children were only a year old.
He was convicted of sex crimes in Utah and then later in Oregon. He was released on those charges in May 2023 and a warrant was issued to bring him to the Tri-Cities, according to court documents.
This story was originally published March 29, 2025 at 5:00 AM.