'Lasting emotional damage': Seabrook man pleads guilty to assaulting young girls

SEABROOK — A local man pleaded guilty Wednesday to assaulting two young girls and attempting to lure one of them into his apartment to show the child his "food pantry."

Scott Dunn, 57, of Seabrook, pleaded guilty in Rockingham Superior Court to one count of simple assault and one count of second-degree assault as part of a negotiated plea deal with prosecutors.

Dunn received a 12-month sentence for the misdemeanor simple assault charge and a 1 ½ to 3-year suspended sentence for four years for the felony second-degree assault charge.

Previous story: Seabrook man charged with assaulting girls at Rockingham Village Apartments

The father of one of the victims addressed the court prior to sentencing stating the assault of his 11-year-old "not only harmed her physically but has also left her with lasting emotional damage." A 9-year-old victim in the case told the court she still has difficulty focusing on school because she's afraid Dunn will "get out and do stuff to me."

Seabrook police arrested Dunn Aug. 10 after investigating a report of an alleged assault against an 11-year-old girl at the Rockingham Village Apartments complex in Seabrook.

The girl told police that Dunn on July 28 spoke to them in a "creepy way" and tried to get her and her friend to see his "food pantry" in his apartment.

When she refused, the girl told police Dunn shook and squeezed her hand "really hard" and wouldn't let go. When she broke free, he then grabbed her arm, causing a bruise, trying to pull her into his apartment saying "C'mon, I'm not a serial killer."

Police said there was another incident involving Dunn on Aug. 4, where he was accused of making inappropriate comments and touching a 9-year-old girl on her leg calling her "honey." A juvenile who witnessed what happened told police that Dunn walked away saying something to the effect that "I need to walk away, you guys are making me horny."

11-year-old victim still has nightmares

The father of the 11-year-old victim told the court that his daughter still has nightmares involving Dunn.

"Most nights they are about her unable to find her mommy and daddy," he said. "As she desperately looks for both of us, she is eventually able to find us. When she does, both my wife and I are dead and Mr. Dunn is standing next to our bodies. The dream ends with Mr. Dunn abducting our daughter and she is unable to get away despite her attempts to escape."

The father said his daughter is scared to go to the store or hang out with her friends in public places because she might see Dunn.

"Mr. Dunn has taken a piece of our daughter's childhood that she will not get back," he said. "...Mr. Dunn, I hope you use your time in jail to reflect upon your actions and the damage they have done to a wonderful little girl and her family."

The 9-year-old victim told the court she is still scared that she might run into Dunn.

"I feel like he should have longer in jail because he likes to touch underage children and I should not have had to go through this at 9-year's old," she said. "No one should have to go through this. It's not fair to us kids or adults. We should not have to worry about this stuff happening to us."

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Dunn will undergo psychosexual evaluation

As part of the negotiated plea deal, prosecutors dropped two of the four charges originally filed.

Dunn will also be required to participate in counseling/treatment and to undergo a psychosexual evaluation within 60 days of release.

He was also ordered to have no contact with the victims and no unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18.

Dunn, who has been held without bail, will receive 112 days of pre-trial credit.

At the time of his arrest on the assault charges, Dunn was out on bail for a charge of receiving stolen property from an arrest in March.

Dunn also resolved that case Wednesday, pleading guilty and receiving a 12-month suspended sentence for two years and paying a fine.

Restitution was not ordered because the property was recovered.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Seabrook NH man pleads guilty to assaulting children at apartments