Man convicted of raping, strangling woman in Lansing Township sentenced to decades in prison

LANSING TWP. — A man with a lengthy criminal record has been sentenced to prison for at least 50 years for sexually and physically assaulting a woman in April 2022.

Scott Sylvester, 40, was convicted by a jury in April of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, aggravated stalking, aggravated domestic assault, witness intimidation and interfering with electronic communications.

Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina sentenced him last week to 50 to 75 years in prison, with 755 days credit for time spent in custody, for the CSC conviction, court records indicate.

The victim, who had a young child by Sylvester, said he slapped her several times, verbally abused her and strangled her in a bedroom of her Lansing Township home. She said he later smashed her cellphone. She reported the incident to police the next day after getting a new cellphone, she testified.

The attack left her with bruises all over her body, she said.

Sylvester was accused of stalking, harrassing and threatening the woman, Lansing Township police said. He was arrested and charged in the case in May 2022. He later bonded out of jail before his bond was revoked, they said.

"Yeah, I kind of feel like I'm watching over my back every second until he was picked up and then when I get the call that he was released, I packed up everything in my house and my son and dog and I, (and) we left for about three weeks," the victim testified in Sylvester's 2022 preliminary examination.

While that case was pending, Sylvester was charged with sexually assasulting another woman identified as his girlfriend. Those allegations also dated back to early 2022. The woman testified he sexually assaulted her in a vehicle as they were driving.

Sylvester was ordered to stand trial on charges of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and domestic violence earlier this year. It was unclear if that prosecution will go forward now that he has been sentenced to a minimum of 50 years in prison.

In a sentencing memorandum, an assistant Ingham County prosecutor asked Aquilina to impose a long sentence for Sylvester, who he said had eight prior felony convictions.

Lansing Township police lauded the work of Sparrow's Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program, Michigan State University's Center for Survivors and corrections deputies at the Ingham County Jail, who they said provided important evidence regarding stalking from the jail.

Contact Ken Palmer atkpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on X @KBPalm_lsj.