Henry V. Bennett: Man Arrested For Oral Sex With 3-Year-Old Allegedly Said It Was An ‘Accident’
A West Virginia man accused of getting oral sex from a three-year-old allegedly told his wife that it was an “accident,” a claim he’d also allegedly made about another accusation of sexual assault.
As the Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports, Henry V. Bennett, 25, of Bluefield, was arrested Monday on a variety of charges relating to alleged sex acts with a three-year-old child.
Detective J.B. Fox and Sgt. Kenny Adams of the Bluefield Police Department showed up at Bennett’s home on Monday morning, having been tipped off to accusations of sexual abuse by Child Protective Services. While talking to authorities, Bennett at first denied the accusations against him, but later confessed, authorities say.
Bennett allegedly told police that on one occasion, he was having sex with his wife while their child was in the bed with them. He said he “accidentally” placed a sex toy in the child’s buttocks.
On another occasion, he said, he and his wife were performing oral sex in a dark bedroom when the wife went up to go to the bathroom. When the wife returned, he said, the child was allegedly performing oral sex on him. He tried to convince his wife that that, too, was an “accident.”
Henry Bennett #SRJ #WestVirginia #Arrest #Mugshot Source: https://t.co/hHldrQGpYX pic.twitter.com/dRma2EKtHW
— WV Jails (@WVJails) February 13, 2018
Police didn’t buy Bennett’s stories, and arrested him and took him downtown. He’s been charged with charged with sexual assault, sexual abuse and incest, all felonies. The first and most serious charge, sexual assault, carries a penalty of 15 to 35 years in prison. The second charge, sexual abuse, carries a penalty of 10 to 20 years in prison because it was allegedly committed by a parent, guardian or custodian. The third charge, incest, carries a penalty of five to 15 years in prison.
If convicted on all three charges, according to WVNS-TV, Bennett could be sentenced to 40 to 90 years in prison.
As of this writing, he remains incarcerated on $1 million bond.
This is not the first time that a person accused of sexual crimes has tried to play it off as an accident.
As the Independent reported earlier this month, Delaware priest John A. Sarro stands accused of sexually molesting a girl younger than 16, over 25 years ago. However, in attempting to explain himself, he allegedly told police “It was something that happened by accident.”
It is not clear, as of this writing, when Henry V. Bennett will go to trial.
