A pedophile, Henry Vincent Bennett, said he assaulted his three-year-old girl because he thought she was his wife.
A jury in Bluefield, West Virginia found him guilty in less than 30 minutes.
After a two-day trial at the end of 2018, Bennett was found guilty on six felony counts of first-degree sexual assault and first-degree sexual abuse.
Bennett allegedly admitted to detectives that he repeatedly confused his three-year-old daughter with his 24-year-old wife, after she crawled into his bed.
Judge Derek Swope said in the Mercer County Courthouse when handing down the sentence: “I’m not locking him up for the rest of his life, but for the rest of his effective life.”
The Beginning
Once the toddler’s family were aware of the abuse, the child protection personnel were involved, Bennett was taken into custody in February 2018.
After an investigation by Bluefield Police Department detectives into claims made by a 3-year-old girl to family members and state child advocacy workers that she had been sexually molested, Henry Vincent Bennett, 26, of Bluefield, was apprehended.
The youngster said that Bennett had put his “butt on her butt” in one comment. Cindy Lambert, a representative of the child advocacy group Second Chances, testified in court that the youngster also created a Play-Doh replica of a penis and claimed it was Bennett’s “butt.”
Bennett first denied sexually assaulting the 3-year-old when questioned by Detective J.B. Fox of the Bluefield Police Department, who is now a trooper with the West Virginia State Police in Wyoming County. He continued by saying that the youngster accidentally crept into the bed when his wife was using the restroom, leading to two midnight events in his bedroom, one involving a sex toy and the other involving oral sex. The jury heard recordings of the interviews.
First-degree sexual assault in West Virginia is punishable by 25 to 100 years in prison. According to prosecuting attorney George Sitler, each sexual abuse charge has a potential sentence of 5 to 15 years in jail, while incest carries a sentence of 10 to 20 years.
Bennett was questioned by Hager regarding two meetings he had with Detective Fox. Bennett claimed that while being transported to the police station, an officer assured him that if he confessed, he would be allowed to return home. The recordings of the interviews contained no utterance of a promise. Bennett insisted again and time again that the confession he provided the police was false.
Also, Bennett was questioned about the sex toys, which he claimed he kept hidden from the kids. He claimed that while he and his wife were using them, the youngster had entered the bedroom, which was unlocked.
Bennett sobbed and denied that he had sexually assaulted the youngster during Sitler’s cross-examination, claiming that he made up the confession so he could go home.
“You thought making up a story would give you can chance to go home?” Sitler asked. “Why did you do it?”
“Because I was scared,” Bennett replied.
Bennett had identified the sex object that had been used in one of the incidences, according to Sitler, who pointed to a nearby table with many sex toys on it. Sitler then questioned Bennett as to how he could have mistaken a 185-pound woman for a 30-pound 3-year-old in the dark.
In the end, Bennett admitted to abusing the girl sexually twice, once involving a sex toy, and once involving oral sex, according to the Bluefield Daily Telegraph.
Bennett’s wife was also charged with child neglect
Bennett stated in his testimony on that he left school when he was in the ninth grade, had received special education, and had twice attempted to obtain a GED without success. He claimed that his wife’s mother, who brought up some of the charges, had never approved of him and had attempted to separate him and his wife, April Bennett, as he was being questioned by attorney Earl Hager, who represented him with attorney Brandon Austin.
He was sentenced to at least 50 years in prison before he is eligible for parole. “I’m not locking him up for the rest of his life, but for the rest of his effective life.” The Judge said.