By WECT Staff | July 30, 2020 at 3:58 PM EDT – Updated July 31 at 7:37 PM
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – Devon Scott, a former Wilmington mayoral candidate and local activist, was arrested Thursday after public accusations by his wife that he physically and sexually assaulted her.
According to a news release from the Wilmington Police Department, Scott, 37, was charged with second-degree sexual offense after he allegedly sexually assaulted his wife, Lauren Scott, in May of 2015.
Scott was arrested by U.S. Marshals at his home around 1:30 p.m. and initially held under no bond while awaiting his first court appearance on Friday.
During Friday’s court appearance, prosecutors said the investigation was spurred by an email from local media and public revelations of the incident made by Devon and Lauren on social media.
Prosecutors added that Scott failed to show up at the Wilmington Police Department to speak with detectives, so authorities pulled his warrant and he was taken into custody by the marshals. Scott countered that his attorney told him no to go to the police department.
A judge set Scott’s bond at $100,000 and he will be required to use electronic monitoring if he makes bail.
His next court date is Aug. 20.
In a conversation with Port City Daily’s Ben Schachtman, Lauren said an argument about financial difficulties between her and Devon earlier in the day led to the alleged assault. That evening, Lauren said she was asleep on a sleeping bag on the floor. The two had shared an apartment and although Devon had not been staying there, according to Lauren he did have a key.
Devon opened the apartment door and came in. Lauren said she did not get up.
Then, Lauren said she felt cold water being poured on her. She said Devon then bent down quickly, grabbed her by the throat, and slapped her hard, back and forth using the front and back of his hand. He then raped her.
Devon Scott acknowledged these events occurred. He said it was the only rape or sexual assault that occurred and said he’d never physically or sexually assaulted anyone else before or since.
Lauren said that drugs and alcohol were not involved in the assault. She said they did not discuss the incident much afterward. Devon said he offered to turn himself over to the authorities. Lauren said she did not press criminal charges at the time because she was financially dependent on Devon and feared eviction among other issues.
Recently, Lauren said she finally felt she was in an appropriate place to go fully public with her story. In addition to speaking to the press, Lauren also posted several times to Facebook, detailing some of her allegations against Devon, along with her frustration that the Wilmington Advocacy And Protest Organization had allowed Devon such a public role despite his actions.
Devon again acknowledged the rape, although he faced backlash for describing it as having “sexually touched her in anger.” He later admitted this was a “wishy-washy and protective way to describe a crime.” Devon agreed that “rape” was the appropriate word and asked to be held accountable.
Copyright 2020 WECT. All rights reserved. Port City Daily contributed to this report.