French father-of-five on trial for 56 sex attacks over three decades

A FORMER janitor and mild-mannered father of five stood trial yesterday for the rape and sexual assault of 56 women in France and Belgium over three decades, after admitting to a spate of assaults.

Dino Scala is nicknamed the “Rapist of the Sambre” after the river passing through or near several towns along the France-belgium border where he launched his attacks.

He was arrested in 2018 in northern France after evading detectives for 30 years. A knife, gloves and rope were found and DNA matches were made at several of the crime scenes. Mr Scala faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Appearing in court in Douai, northern France, he was charged with 17 rapes, 12 attempted rapes and 27 sexual assaults or attempts, though investigators suspect there were other victims who did not come forward to police.

The 61-year-old has confessed to around 40 rapes and assaults he attributed to uncontrollable “urges”. He told detectives: “I hung around... I watched where women would pass by. I like to be secretive and hide... I have a hunter nature.”

His modus operandi in attacking victims aged between 13 and 48 was almost always the same: he pounced on them in deserted streets in the early hours during winter, then strangled and dragged them into nearby bushes or trees before sexually assaulting them – often at knifepoint.

Caty Richard, lawyer for three of the plaintiffs, said: “They hope to finally put what happened to them behind them, have the beginning of an explanation, and be heard and understood.”