A man found guilty of kidnapping, drugging and sexually assaulting two runaway teenage girls will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars after being sentenced by an El Paso County judge Wednesday.

Investigators arrested roommates Jerome Scott, 63, and Gerald Brooks, 68, in early July 2025 after detectives found the teenagers inside an apartment on the south edge of downtown Colorado Springs.

News of the missing girls was splashed over the airwaves and noticed by Scott and Brooks, who still held the runaways captive inside the home for three days. Eventually, police were contacted by a friend of one of the victims, who managed to get a phone and tell the friend what was happening.

The defendants were tried separately. While Scott went to trial, Brooks took a plea deal that has him serving less time than his accomplice.

Scott was ‘feeding the addiction’

Judge William Bain said his sentencing for Scott largely had to do with what the defendant did over the course of those three days, despite efforts by the defense to portray him as a veteran who lost the fight to his drug addiction and succumbed to his “demons.”

Scott reportedly saw the girls, ages 13 and 17 at the time, while driving around Colorado Springs and promised them a ride to Denver after they escaped from a nearby rehabilitation facility that their parents sent them to for their drug addictions, according to Bain.

Instead of driving to Denver, the girls were taken to the apartment, where they were given crack cocaine, ketamine, marijuana and alcohol. Scott then sexually assaulted them and sedated them with more drugs to “keep them out of it,” prosecutors said.

“Mr. Scott was the definition of everything we tell kids to watch out for,” Deputy District Attorney Rebecca James told the courtroom Wednesday.

The mother of one of the teenage girls told Scott that he had the chance to be the hero instead of the villain had he turned the missing girls over to police.

“Why didn’t you say you’re sorry for what you did?” she demanded from Scott while she stood before the courtroom podium.

Her voice wavering as she fought back tears, she said her daughter has horrible nightmares and episodes, a trauma that has carried over to the rest of the family.

“She’s never going to recover. Our family is never going to recover,” she said.

Bain said Scott’s actions had a dramatic impact not only on the family but also for community members who followed the highly publicized case.

The judge also noted Scott’s efforts to appeal his conviction by saying there’s “no doubt in (his) mind” of what happened in that apartment unit.

“You were feeding the addiction,” Bain told Scott. “You repeatedly (left) the apartment to get more drugs.”

Bain sentenced Scott to 15 years to life for his sexual assaults, 24 years for the kidnappings and 10 years for providing drugs to minors.

Scott has 49 days to enter an appeal.

Sexual assault charges dropped for Brooks

Brooks pleaded guilty to providing ketamine to the girls, court documents show. On May 13, he was sentenced to six years in state prison and was given credit for 309 days he already served.

Brooks was initially charged with sexual assault, an allegation that he’s denied since his arrest. He also initially denied giving the girls drugs. Colorado court records show his plea deal dismissed the sexual assault charges.

No criminal charges were initially filed against Brooks until investigators determined he had “more culpability than originally believed.”

According to his arrest papers, Brooks’ statements to law enforcement were “remarkably vague, inconsistent” even when asked clarifying questions.

The two girls told investigators a different story, saying, while he never made any sexual contact, Brooks was allegedly overheard suggesting marriage at one point and also made sexual innuendos to one of the teens.

Scott was arrested July 4, 2025. Days later, Brooks was taken into custody.