Dino Scala, the “Sambre Rapist”, Indicted for 13 New Sexual Assaults

Already convicted in 2022 for a vast series of sexual crimes, Dino Scala is once again facing justice. The 64-year-old man, known as the “Sambre Rapist”, was indicted on Thursday, May 15, for 13 new counts of sexual violence, according to a judicial source confirmed to franceinfo. He was also granted assisted witness status for three additional cases.

Cold Cases Reopened After New Evidence Emerges

Scala was questioned for nearly five hours by an investigating judge as part of an inquiry into 16 alleged assaults committed between 1986 and 1990. Initially ruled out due to a seemingly different modus operandi, he is now being linked to these cold cases after fresh testimony and investigative cross-checks.

Currently incarcerated at Sequedin prison in northern France, Scala was brought out of his cell for this pivotal hearing. His lawyer, Margaux Mathieu, criticized the legal approach, stating, “We’ve been asking to be heard for almost three years. It’s unthinkable to pin every unresolved case from the 1980s on him.”

A History of Predatory Violence

In July 2022, Dino Scala was sentenced to 20 years in prison by the Nord Assize Court, with a two-thirds minimum term, for 54 rapes, attempted rapes, and sexual assaults committed between 1988 and 2018. The crimes occurred near the Sambre River, both in northern France and Belgium. Of the 56 charges, Scala admitted to 40 while denying the remaining 16.

His trial left many questions unanswered about this seemingly ordinary man—an unassuming factory worker, husband, father, and local football coach. Psychiatric experts described a stark contrast between his public persona and a hidden, deeply disturbing private life, referring to an “abyss” between the two.