Arizona Senate President's(R) Son Rectally Assaulted Boys With Broom

[matcom]

on edit: I know he is a repuke thanks to his member page: http://www.azleg.state.az.us/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=63

<snip>

PHOENIX — The son of state Senate President Ken Bennett admitted in court Monday to assaulting middle school boys with a broomstick in their rectal areas, but a judge allowed charges against him to be reduced from 18 to one, and he may avoid jail.
Three of the 18 victims, all boys between the ages of 11 and 15, are from Tucson, and the families are angry that 18-year-old Clifton Bennett and co-defendant Kyle Wheeler, 19, were not charged with sexual assault.

Also, the families said Bennett is being treated favorably by the court system because of his father's position in the Legislature. Bennett's plea would allow the court to classify the aggravated-assault conviction as a misdemeanor, which means he could go on to become a teacher or counselor and would never have to disclose the so-called "brooming" incident.

Bennett and Wheeler pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in court Monday. Bennett pleaded to one count and Wheeler to two.

"I think he got a sweetheart deal," said the father of one of the three Tucson victims, a 12-year-old boy who attends a local Catholic school. "I'd like him to get a year in prison. The victims should have been heard from before the plea was agreed to. If this was 18 girls who were victims, it would have been sexual assault."

Ken Bennett and his family would not comment Monday. The senator and his wife were in court throughout Monday's hearing.
Bennett and Wheeler are scheduled to be sentenced on May 12 in either Phoenix or Prescott. Monday's hearing took place in Phoenix before Judge Thomas W. O'Toole in Maricopa County Superior Court. O'Toole took the case after two Yavapai County judges recused themselves.

The maximum term for each aggravated-assault count is two years in prison, but probation also is possible.

Police reports say the assaults took place at Chapel Rock Camp in Prescott during a weeklong camp for school leaders in June. Witnesses told police that the junior counselors lined up the youngsters, told them to bend over and "broomsticked" them. The boys told police "broomsticking" was done alternately with a broom, a cane, a mop handle and a heavy-duty flashlight while they were clothed.

"If these were two kids from South Tucson without money or connections, they would never have been offered this deal," said Lynne M. Cadigan, a Tucson attorney who is representing two of the families.

http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/dailystar/123050.php

[Fenris]

1. Hold on, I think I need to go fucking smash something.

:banghead:

[redqueen]

2. OK

Fuck this...

[JohnKleeb]

3. Jesus Christ

Thats fucked up.

[_testify_]

4. We can only hope

that young Master Bennett has something truly awful happen to him. I'd love to speculate, but I don't want the visit from the Feds.

[ContraBass Black]

8. .

[XemaSab]

11. Oh, that's not nearly awful enough.....

[ContraBass Black]

13. ?

[XemaSab]

14. That's better!

:D

[azmouse]

5. Montini's column from the AZ Republic

'Fortunate Son' winning out over unfortunate victims

Apr. 4, 2006 12:00 AM

It's a sweetheart deal for the assault suspect. And when the father of the accused is president of the Arizona Senate, people can't help but wonder if the old man pulled some strings to get junior a break. To which I'd say: I certainly hope so.

State Sen. Ken Bennett's 18-year-old son, Clifton, along with 19-year-old Kyle Wheeler have admitted to forcing broomsticks and flashlights into the rectums of 18 boys (through their clothing) during a youth camp last summer. The two young men said that it was part of a hazing ritual.

The Yavapai County prosecutor's office has decided that the attacks are not sexual assaults, and has dropped 35 of 36 original charges against Clifton Bennett, producing one of the sweetheart deals of our relatively new century. Wheeler's case was reduced to two charges.

Since a story about the agreement was published in Sunday's Arizona Republic, my voice mail has been jammed with people who want me and others to "go after" Bennett, whom they presume to have used his power to grease the skids for his son.

Sorry. I have no idea if Bennett did anything behind the scenes to try to help his boy out of a jam. But if he did, I wouldn't knock him. When you're the dad, it's your job to do what you can for your kid.

When you're the prosecutor, it's your job to do what you can for the victims, no matter whose dad gets in the way.

The person who's supposed to be looking out for the 18 victims in this case is Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk.

She hasn't had much to say about the case so far. On her Web site, however, Polk claims that her office "vigorously prosecutes crime throughout Yavapai County" and "protects the rights of victims."

The parents of the boys who were abused by Clifton Bennett and Wheeler might disagree. The victims were between 11 and 14 years old. A number of them supposedly have had physical and psychological trouble since the assaults. And yet under an agreement with prosecutors, Clifton Bennett may escape any real jail time and wind up with no record for sexual assault.

"If this were just some average Joe's kid, they'd be throwing the book at him," said one caller on my voice mail.

Well, duh.

Is there really anyone left in America who believes there is such a thing as equal justice?

Anyone who doesn't believe that the wealthy and influential among us have a much better chance of making it through the legal system unscathed than the poor and powerless?

If not, take as yet another lesson the case of these two fortunate assailants and their 18 unfortunate victims.

Lawyers for Clifton Bennett said that he was an honor student and active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They said that he had plans to go on a mission in September.

In a letter to the court they actually wrote, "A felony conviction for assault will make his desire to complete his mission impossible."

Again, some of you might find it shocking that a "felony conviction" could make such a thing impossible but that having assaulted 18 boys would not.

Even those who don't follow the justice system should know what's going on here. If not, tune in to your local classic rock station. It's all explained clearly and succinctly in Creedence Clearwater Revival's 1970 song Fortunate Son, with a chorus that goes, "It ain't me, it ain't me/ I ain't no senator's son,/ It ain't me, it ain't me,/ I ain't no fortunate one."



Reach Montini at [e-mail] or [phone]. Read his blog at montiniblog.azcentral.com.

[matcom]

7. 100% spot on

this is one fucked up country

[miss_american_pie]

6. Oh how awful

I wouldn't want his karma.

[madinmaryland]

9. The guy in New York got 30 years for that!

How'd this guy get off so easy? :wtf:

[matcom]

10. the guy in New York was a Democrat

:sarcasm:

[madinmaryland]

12. I don't know if the guy in new york was anything.

other than a sicko, who was on the same thing as your smilie. Also was a cop when he did it.

[underpants]

15. God that gets me so hot

Fucking freak

[SOteric]

16. You really ought to post this one in GD.

I'd like to see it receive broader attention.

[MissB]

17. It is already there.

And receiving lots of attention.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x840695