Yesterday former-WABC sportscaster Marvell Scott copped to a misdemeanor charge of endangering a child (specifically he "inappropriately touched" a 14-year-old runaway-turned-prostitute three years ago) and walked away with 20 days of community service. But why, if he was as completely innocent as he keeps saying, did he take the plea? Oh, for the sake of the girl, natch.
The Daily News snagged a sitdown with the one-time weekend anchor yesterday and he says that despite his innocence ("I take pride in being an upstanding citizen. That's why I went into medicine to be a doctor. And to then be accused of some heinous crimes I didn't commit—and I can say I didn't commit rape or any inappropriate sexual acts.") he just wanted the story to be over. "When push comes to shove, I was not comfortable with dragging this troubled teen through a trial."
"I'd never committed a crime in my life, outside of some speeding tickets, and this thing blindsides me," Scott told the News. "All of a sudden, it's uncontrollable, and you think, maybe it would be easier to put an end to it." So that's what he did—though not in the way some might have liked. Meanwhile he's practicing medicine (the plea is not expected to hinder his license) and "things are going really well, and I'm moving forward in all fronts."
Scott wasn't interested in talking about details of the incident, however. He has been accused of picking up a young runaway near his Times Square apartment and sleeping with her while her older friend listened on in the next room. Beyond worrying about putting a teen through the ordeal of a trial, perhaps another reason that Scott went for the plea is that the felony charges he was up against could have landed him in jail for up to seven years?
