Son of Senator Bennett (R) get mind blowing plea deal in sex torture case

[KurtNYC]

I think my head just exploded. Lemme see where to begin....

PHOENIX (AP) - Two young men charged with sodomizing 18 boys at a youth camp last year have been offered a plea agreement that may net them little jail time and no record of sexual assault.
...
The younger Bennett confessed to police that he and Wheeler sodomized the 11- to 14-year-old boys with broomsticks and flashlights in at least 40 incidents, court documents show.

Okay, the Bennett they are referring to is the son of Arizona State Senator Ken Bennett. Apparently he was working as a counselor at a camp last summer and took it upon himself to "punish" campers. But, in spite of confessing to 40 incidents committed against 18 victims (all honor students - see article) , the prosecutors drew up a plea deal which...

The plea agreement describes the assault charge as "a non-dangerous, non-repetitive offense."

So how many repetitions would it have taken for it to qualify as "repetitive" ?! Many are speculating that the plea deal is tied to his father's position in state politics. His co-defendant choked 3 young honor students until they passed out. There are 40 chargeable felonies and the plea deal is for one charge. And one more time, this is all spun as "hazing" and nothing that should be a life-altering event for the defendants.

I can only hope the victims take this to civil court.

http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2006/04/03/news/local/20060403_local_news_7.txt

Also:
http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/0404bennett0404-CP.html

[TriMetFan]

1. "I can only hope the victims take this to civil court"

Fuck that! I hope that those two punks get their rears plucked! I believe in a eye for a eye!

[BlooInBloo]

5. Do you also believe in twisting biblical lines?

Don't get me wrong - I'm NO kind of fan of the bible. But that phrase was clearly NOT meant as a permission ("i get to...") - it was meant as a *limitation* ("you get no more than...").

Even tho I'm known in some circles as hostile to bury-your-brain-religion, exegetical fairness should still rule the day...

:)

[TriMetFan]

14. Yes I understand what you mean and say. BUT

I'm just sick of the fact that these kind of people can get away with what they do to others! They like using the Bible to hurt others will I believe it is time to use it on them too. If these 2 guys were your avg. Joe's I can tell you that they would be in jail with some guy named Bubba. Also how would you feel if one of the kids that was raped by one of these punks was ours? And one more thing. I'm ex-cop that has seen what rape does to people. Especially young little kids. There is no room in my heart for pity for punks like these guy's.

[BlooInBloo]

18. I hear ya. Pretty damn infuriating.

[warrens]

27. Little Mormon freaks pled that they couldn't go to jail

Because they had to go on mission or whatever it is they call it. Poke a repressed religious fanatic and find a sexual freak. I'd like to see the two of them in adjoining jail cells. With large, aggressive room mates.

[TriMetFan]

37. That is why I say to HELL with it.

This rape case should be getting just or even more attention as the Duke/Rape case. We are talking young kids here. Think about what this has done to their minds! Hell these 2 punks have said they did it! Well in my book they should be punished by Rape themselves and then put away for along time. The Avg. person would have been crucified already.:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Faux pas]

55. Imagine all the damage they'll be doing in the countries they'll

be doing their missions in. I don't think the authorities in any other country could let them get away with those things. Better put them away NOW.

[file83]

58. Wait a minute - the Mormon Church is still letting these offenders go on

a mission!?! That can't be. Do they realize how bad that will make the Church look - that they are sending convicted men that molested 18 boys to go on a mission?!!!

This should almost be a new thread in and of itself.

[AndyA]

2. Sounds like someone made a cozy, "under the sheets" deal to me.

I also hope the parents of the students who were attacked take them to civil court, and clean their clocks. What little pricks. This is why we need to clean house so badly. Dirty politicians are in bed with corrupt and dirty judges.

We had a judge here in Oklahoma who sat on the bench while court was in session with a penis pump operating! That's right - no typo - others in court heard it running.

How fair and impartial would you say he was? :eyes:

[tocqueville]

3. Since it's normal freeper foreplay

so it's difficult for him to understand what's wrong with it

[Cronus Protagonist]

53. OUCH! n/t

[wicket]

4. This is effing infuriating!

:grr: :grr: :grr:

[Jigarotta]

11. I couldn't express how angry this makes me

so I'll tag onto your expletive.

dammit how can they get away with this!!!!! this is unbelieveable.


class system, what class system?


AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

[wicket]

15. All I can think about is what the poor boys will be dealing with...

....the rest of their lives over what they suffered at the hands of these monsters :cry:

[MikeNearMcChord]

6. I bet had the young Bennett was the recipient of that torture

, he would want the perpetrators thrown in the jail for all day, I read in another thread the father asked the prosecutor not to press felony charges because the Young Bennett was also scheduled to go a Mormon mission, I hope the LDS told them to reconsider that choice, I would not have somebody like that representing my faith.

[KurtNYC]

16. Which is actually all the MORE reason he should be charged

appropriately! He is going to go door to door on his LDS mission....?

[Catamount]

36. He might have been the recipricant once, it often happens....in

overtly religious fanatical families! Disgusting bunch these guys...may karma get them one by one!

[Neil Lisst]

7. that kid is sick and dangerous

[izzie]

8. Does this fall under family value or what?

I think they maybe should screen people they let into that party.

[kevinbgoode]

9. Torture and control is a Republican institution

which makes me wonder once again. . .why are Republicans allowed to even HAVE children?

[BlooInBloo]

10. IOKIYAR - even sex crimes - evil bastards.

[gratuitous]

12. This story has changed

A few weeks ago, the behavior alleged was that the counselor-perpetrators had done a "pretend" assault on their ward-victims. In the previous version, the broomstick and flashlight had been placed between the boys' buttocks, but the boys still had their pants and underwear on. Now it appears that the boys were anally penetrated, according to the story.

Something isn't adding up here, and it looks like justice is being hoodwinked in Arizona.

[Yupster]

44. Yes - very weird

Here's a wuote from the second linked article of the OP.

"Brooms, flashlights and a cane were shoved into the rectums of the boys while they were wearing clothes or swimsuits for various infractions."

That's just weird. Can you shove something up a rectum when he's wearing clothes? I don't think I'll try that at home.

[dsc]

45. Think of a wedgie

and then figure it out.

[az chela]

13. First let me explain that I live in the little town where this happened

I have known the senior Bennett who is an oil man for over 30 years.He is a mormon and half of his family are business people in this town.They have a lot of power and his son is Senator Ken Bennett and one of the kids that did this is Ken Bennetts son Clif.
I have written to 3 papers and none were published.It was written in a letter to the editor here in Prescott that this is the 2nd year in a row that Clif has done this.
We had a psychologist write an article in the paper saying these kids were scarred for life and yet Shiela Polk,the county attorney cut a deal where they will get no record and 5 days in jail.
Since Clifton Bennett is going on his mormon mission in september and wont be allowed to go if he has a record they dont want to press charges against him.I read the police report and it is beyond disgusting what him and Kyle Wheeler did to these young boys.Several of these boys parents stated that their sons are scared and traumatized and have nightmares.The boys said they were threatened not to tell or it would get worse.They also said it was very painful and sexual.
Could someone explain to me how a mormon republican senator can get the county attorney to offer his son a deal of no sexual assault and 5 days in jail

[KurtNYC]

19. And I want to know why the victims aren't consulted in criminal

plea deals? In general, not just these two. Sure it saves a trial but what about justice??

Also, if he did this 2 years in a row then possibly the camp is also liable.

[troubleinwinter]

48. I moved to your county from out of state two months ago.

As far as I am concerned, regarding local politics, cleaning house of Shiela Polk and the County Presecutor is job #1.

[Rocknrule]

17. Does the law even APPLY to Republicans anymore???

:argh:

[Horse with no Name]

20. No.

Next question?

[ArbustoBuster]

22. Next question: What do we do to MAKE the law apply to Rethugs once again?

Because I think we're all getting pretty goddamned tired of Republicans getting away with rape, theft, business fraud, and lying the country into wars of conquest.

[Horse with no Name]

24. What I find most disturbing

Is that they can't quit talking about the Cynthia McKinney incident, yet overlook molesting children when it is one of their own.
There is a serious moral disconnect here.

[Mandate My Ass]

21. This is the rape case everybody should be talking about

That prosecutor was bought. I've never heard of having to prove sexual intent when somebody repeatedly jammed a foreign object up someone else's rectum. What a couple of sociopaths. Typical republicans. Their crimes are considered "pranks" and their futures are more important than justice for their victims.

Words fail me. Those poor boys are suffering from PTSD, which is a life sentence, and that socipathic little creep will walk out of that courtroom without even a blemish on his record though he is subhuman filth. I hope his "mission" in September doesn't involve any children. WWJAR. Who would Jesus anally rape? :cry:

[mrcheerful]

38. Good gravy, I know a guy that plead guilty to

touching a 12 yo chest while wrestling with her got 2 to 15 years in prison. His lawyer told him the plea was for probation but the judge gave him 2 to 15 after he plead guilty. He wasn't even aware of it and after the kid told him about it he never wrestled with her again. A year later the girls father and him got into it over something stupid and the dad turned The guy into the police. Sexual intent was deemed that he wrestled with a 12 yo and used that as an excuse to touch her chest. Something he had been doing since the kid was born. The wrestling part he only touched her chest once according to the girl.

[helderheid]

23. THIS IS GODDAMNED OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

25. So far beyond outrageous, it was the talk of AAR Phoenix for some time.

[BrklynLiberal]

26. kicked because I am outraged!!!!

[cantstandbush]

28. This needs to be thrown in the faces of the Christian funddie RW

zealots like Falwell, Robertson and some FOX "News" hosts who drool over the RW fundie crowd.

[Janice325]

29. Someone send this to Nancy Grace.

I don't like the Ms. Grace, but with stories like this she's like a dog with a bone. She won't give up, and could help this story hit the mainstream news, and let everyone see how totally crazy this so-called "plea deal" is.
Everyone should be outraged.

[redqueen]

35. Done.

I can't even process this... completely numb...

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

30. AZ Attorney General Goddard (Dem, good guy) was very concerned about this.

He was on the Mike Newcomb show on Air America Phoenix and was asked about it.

Hopefully he is looking into it.

[Mandate My Ass]

31. Glad to hear it. That prosecutor sounded more like a defense

attorney. He was actively defending these punks and diminishing the victims' pain and suffering by stating forced anal penetration of young boys is merely "hazing." He should not have a job anymore. Period.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

50. Agreed! How I hope that comes to pass. n/t

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

32. Yet another egregious miscarriage of...

...justice by and for Republifascists.

[ToeBot]

33. My first thought was US Senator Bob Bennett, but alas it was not to be

All the same, I would wager that somewhere, not far up the family tree, Ken and Bob are related.

[burythehatchet]

34. I hear O'Reilly is going to "out" this judge

HAH. Just kidding.

[Joanne98]

42. I e-mailed O'Reilly last week. He hasn't said anything.

[The Backlash Cometh]

39. Geez. If he had been black or hispanic, it would have taken one incident.

But the guy's the son of a white Republican so the criteria has been upped to non-repetitive after 18 times.

There's a joke there somewhere, I'm just having trouble laughing about it.

[dsc]

40. Beyond outrageous

I was similarly hazed when I was a freshman in high school and to this day I still feel ashamed I let it happen. I can only imagine what kids that age feel like. What is worse is that apparently under this prosecutor's theory had I retaliated in kind back then I would have sexually assulted them but they wouldn't have sexually assulted me. Let's just say I suspect that if I touched the brest of a girl in his jurisdiction and tried to claim a lack of sexual intent due to being gay it would go precisely nowhere. These young men belong in jail. At best they just short of raped those kids.

[NeoGreen]

41. Can't we get this story out??

They made such a big stink about the Duke case why not this one?

If this is truly Clif Bennett's second year of doing this it kills the "non-repetition" argument.

Hypocrite; thy name is Republican (or Mormon, take you pick).

[dsc]

43. kick

[dsc]

46. one more kick for Republican style justice

[Judi Lynn]

47. Wouldn't you think that a man's sense of accountability at the human level

would force him to want to meet the parents humbly and do the right thing? Good grief.

What one of Nixon's aides said during the Watergate scandal, "I lost my moral compass," seems to apply to ALL Republicans serving then and after.

Reading the two links is almost unbearable. Obviously the local prosecutor has also been raped by the hierarchy of the Republican Party and the pressure from the Mormon church. Loathesome. Isn't it a pity you can't really count on your local prosecutors to show more respect for your interests and the law than this?



Senator Ken Bennett, father

[dsc]

49. kick

[Roland99]

51. WTF?!?!??!

This is disgusting!!

[Cronus Protagonist]

52. This whole story is disgusting

There's no justice there for anyone and the defendants got away with a heinous crime.

It turns my stomach.



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[Ms. Clio]

54. One law for the rich and powerful - another for the poor and powerless

More and more, the US resembles a feudal kingdom of tax-free, lawless aristocrats supported by overtaxed, subjugated serfs.

[SnowGoose]

56. I wonder if Mike Malloy would bring this up.

I'm not wise enough to say what these young men should get for punishment, but they really shouldn't be allowed to go on a "mission".

Think not only in terms of the public safety (sexual criminals with no record going door-to-door) but also for their own protection - seriously, someone with a lot of rage and not much to lose will find out that one of these men are in their neighborhood and... well, I'll leave it up to your imagination, but judging from the amount of anger I see in these forums, it wouldn't be pretty.

The best way to stop these young men is to make sure they are tagged with a record of their crimes.

The best way to make sure that happens is for the bright light of day to be trained on this case.

And in this society, the media is the bright light of day (god, what a depressing thing *that* is!).

[Bushy Being Born]

57. At the same time, people get 20 years for watching child porn cartoons

In this particular example, i believe in the old saying an eye for an eye. Let the parents of these victims gather what broomsticks they can find and have at it! And while they're at it they might as well give that piece of shit state senator some action too.

[file83]

59. Someone call 60 minutes!!!

This needs to go national - this is an outrage - our justice system so obviously corrupted in this case!

[electron_blue]

60. This is why my child will not be going to overnight youth camps