I think I am going to be ill

Kadydid · #1 (**permalink**) 04-05-2006, 04:34 PM

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepu...nnett0404.html
Light plea bargains in assault case stir anger
Robert Anglen
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 4, 2006 12:00 AM
Two men, including the 18-year-old son of Arizona's Senate president, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of aggravated assault for shoving broomsticks and flashlights up the rectums of 18 young boys last year.

Clifton Bennett, of Prescott, and Kyle Wheeler, 19, of Glendale, accepted a deal offered by the Yavapai County Attorney's Office to drop all but one of 36 original charges in exchange for the guilty plea.

Wheeler also pleaded guilty to an additional aggravated assault charge for choking three of the boys until they passed out.
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Parents of the victims expressed frustration and anger over the plea deal, saying it was too lenient.

Judge Thomas O'Toole of Maricopa County Superior Court, who is overseeing the case, said he reviewed evidence and the plea deal fits the circumstances of the case.

The deal leaves the defendants facing up to two years in prison on each count. O'Toole could also reduce the charges to misdemeanors when he sentences the two in May.

"I don't agree with the plea agreement," the mother of one young victim said after the court hearing. "It minimizes the fact that there is more than one victim."
Plea deals called lenient
At the very least, parents wanted Bennett and Wheeler to face one assault charge for each victim.

Many also said they wanted the two men, who were counselors at a Prescott youth camp when the incidents occurred, to face sexual assault charges.

"My client certainly felt like he was being sexually degraded," Texas lawyer Stephen Carrigan said about one of the boys. "He was humiliated."

Lawyers for the defendants would not comment on the case.

Parents, whom The Arizona Republic is not naming to prevent identification of the child victims, say their sons are suffering the symptoms of a sexual assault.

Yavapai County prosecutor James Landis said his office never considered the "broomings" as sexual in nature. Rather, he described what happened as a form of punishment or discipline.

He has said his office could not prove Bennett and Wheeler had any sexual intent.

He said the case likely would have been treated differently if the victims were girls or if there was evidence that the defendants were homosexual.

The Yavapai County prosecutor's position has resulted in letters, phone calls and e-mails to county and state officials, some expressing anger, others calling for an investigation into why the plea deals weren't tougher.

"We have received many calls and letters," Arizona Attorney General's Office spokesman Steve Wilson said Monday. "We have no legal jurisdiction to get involved as things now stand."
Expert weighs in
An e-mail to the Yavapai County Attorney's Office Monday criticized the prosecution.

"As a lawyer in practice for more than 25 years, I was astounded and appalled by . . . Yavapai County's handling of the horrific acts perpetrated by Mr. Bennett and Mr. Wheeler," Phoenix lawyer Carol Cure wrote.

"Reducing these charges to a misdemeanor and/or not requiring serious jail time would be a gross injustice and would certainly send a message that it's not what you do, but who you know."

Legal experts, child advocates and sex-crimes prosecutors say the law doesn't require proof of intent beyond the act itself.

They also say sexual orientation is not a factor in a sexual assault.

"You can't possibly take the position that the insertion of a foreign object into someone's rectum isn't sexual assault," said New York lawyer and bestselling author Andrew Vachss, who specializes in child-abuse cases.
Form of punishment
In June, Bennett and Wheeler were camp counselors at the Arizona Association of Junior High Student Council at Chapel Rock Camp in Prescott. From the outset, they told the 11- to 14-year-old campers they supervised that they would be "broomed" if they violated rules. Boys were told that if they complained, they would be severely punished and if they resisted they would be held down.

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

Bennett is the son of state Senate President Ken Bennett, a Republican and a Prescott native and businessman.

"I know all of the campers were broomed at least once," Clifton Bennett said in court Monday.

"I know I personally broomed a number of the campers. I know I personally restrained a number of the campers. I now know this was an assault under the law."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...1.8d4aeee.html

2 accused of assaulting 18 may see little jail time
Arizona pair offered deal that would leave no record of sex crimes
11:13 AM CDT on Monday, April 3, 2006
Associated Press
PHOENIX – 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.
Clifton Bennett, 18, the son of Arizona Senate President Ken Bennett, and his co-defendant, Kyle Wheeler, 19, were charged in January with 18 counts of aggravated assault and 18 counts of kidnapping for the incidents, which happened at a youth camp in June.
The younger Bennett confessed to police that he and Mr. Wheeler sodomized the 11- to 14-year-old boys with broomsticks and flashlights in at least 40 incidents, court documents show.
Yavapai County prosecutors now say they'll drop all but one assault charge and likely recommend little or no jail time if Mr. Bennett agrees to plead guilty.
Mr. Wheeler has been offered a similar deal but faces an additional assault charge for choking three boys until they passed out.
The plea agreements were presented in court last week and could be finalized today.
Prosecutor James Landis told a judge at the hearing that the "broomsticking" was a hazing ritual and a punishment, not sexual assault.
The plea agreement describes the assault charge as "a nondangerous, nonrepetitive offense."
Mr. Landis told the judge the case was never viewed as "sexual in nature," partly because prosecutors could not prove the two men had sexual intent.
The plea deal infuriated parents of some of the boys, who say their sons were sexually assaulted and traumatized. They want Mr. Bennett and Mr. Wheeler to face sexual-assault charges, undergo mental evaluations and do more jail time.
The boys have had trouble going to the bathroom, some sleep with their clothes on, are afraid at night and have undergone sexual-assault counseling, parents said.
"Our biggest concern is that these kids are going to do it again," the mother of an 11-year-old Tucson boy told The Arizona Republic, insisting that her son was sexually assaulted.
Legal experts, sex-crimes prosecutors and victims'-rights lawyers say the acts clearly fit the definition of sexual assault.
"They could have been charged with sexual assault," said Sue Eazer, supervisor of the Pima County Attorney's Special Victims Unit. "Sexual assault is oftentimes not motivated by sexual desire."
Requiring proof of intent in a sexual assault case is a "red herring," according to Andrew Vachss, a New York lawyer specializing in child cases who is also a best-selling author on the subject. He said intent in this case is being used as an excuse to cut a deal.
"The bottom line is you don't have to prove sexual intent when you have such gross assault," Mr. Vachss said. "It looks like one of the most sweetheart deals of all time."
He implied it is unlikely a jury would agree with the prosecutors, particularly if the defendants plainly described what they did to the boys.
The prosecutor referred questions to Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, who said she was ethically barred from talking about the case while it is active.
The 18 boys were chosen to attend the weeklong student government leadership skills camp in Prescott because they were among the state's top student leaders.
Records show the defendants were assigned to stay in their cabin and told the campers soon after they arrive that those who broke rules would get a "brooming." The incidents were not reported to police until six months later, when one of the boys told a school official.
Mr. Bennett apologized in court last week, saying he was "trying every way he can to rectify the situation."
His father sat behind him. The Republican from Prescott hasn't spoken about his son's arrest except to issue a brief statement expressing concern as a parent.
Lawyers for the younger Mr. Bennett declined to comment but wrote the county attorney saying he "took responsibility for his role, showed remorse and admitted that this 'hazing' was inappropriate."
The letter said Mr. Bennett was an honor student and active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who plans to go on a mission trip in September.
"A felony conviction for assault will make his desire to complete his mission impossible," they wrote.
Lynne Cadigan, a lawyer for two of the campers, said prosecutors told parents they plan to ask for five days jail time for each of the defendants. But under the agreement Mr. Bennett and Mr. Wheeler could face a maximum two years in prison, or the judge could reduce the charges to a misdemeanor and no jail time.

So is shoving a broom handle up a kids butt sexual assault? (Do we even need to debate this? seriously) I wonder if the kid, Bennett will get to go on his mission.

Heidikuz · #2 (**permalink**) 04-05-2006, 05:23 PM

It makes me sick.

roxrkool · #3 (**permalink**) 04-05-2006, 05:42 PM

I read that the other day. Disgusting. As usual. If you have money and know the right people, you get off easy in our 'justice' system.

tweetyluvsjoshua · #4 (**permalink**) 04-05-2006, 05:48 PM

that's sick, how would they feel if it weren't their sone doing the victimizing but were the victims of this assault. I have no doubts that they wouldn't be so eager to be lenient.

Kadydid · #5 (**permalink**) 04-05-2006, 09:48 PM

http://www.azleg.gov/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=63

Hey and the senator is a republican oil man.

This makes me so angry, I want to know how this little snot can just sodomize all these kids and get away with it. Can the rich and powerful really do whatever they feel like? (or I should say if you know the rich and powerful)

He has said his office could not prove Bennett and Wheeler had any sexual intent.

He said the case likely would have been treated differently if the victims were girls or if there was evidence that the defendants were homosexual.

And why would it be treated different had the boys been gay or if girls were involved. These people make me want to puke. I hope none of their sorry asses ever hear the end of this.

Houseplantgirl · #6 (**permalink**) 04-06-2006, 01:03 PM

That is disgusting and so wrong and so horrible!
I have to say, if that happened to MY son, those guys who did it would KNOW what it felt like, cuz I'd FIND THEM! BASTARDS!!!
OMG!
This makes me sooo sick!
S

roxrkool · #7 (**permalink**) 04-07-2006, 03:30 PM

I read the thread title as, "I think I am going to Hell."

I looked at who posted it and thought, you most certainly are.

Emaline · #8 (**permalink**) 04-07-2006, 04:19 PM

That is just vile and wrong. I hope they get broomed in jail. Most molestors and these @ssholes are most certainly child molestors, do not get treate well in jail. I think it is absolutely disgusting that they are getting special treatment. That judge should be fired or whatever the hell it is that they do judges.