Man Gets Over 18 Years In Prison For Teen Sexual Battery

September 21, 2017

An Escambia County man has been sentenced to over 18 years in state prison for the sexual battery of a teen.

Escambia County Circuit Court Judge Jan Shackelford sentenced 57-year old Phillip  Arnez Benjamin to 226.5 months state prison on  one count of lewd or lascivious battery.

Under Florida law, lewd or lascivious battery generally carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in state prison.

However, based on Benjamin’s lengthy prior record, including six prior felony convictions, the court was allowed to exceed the maximum term of imprisonment and sentenced the defendant to more than 18 years in prison. He was also designated a sexual offender.
In October 2016, Benjamin was at a gathering watching football games. The other adults fell asleep, leaving Benjamin the only adult awake in the home. Benjamin went into the 13-year-old victim’s bedroom where she slept with her siblings. At that time, he committed a lewd battery on the victim. The child woke up, and Benjamin told her not to tell anyone what he had done.

Soon after, Benjamin left the home, and the child frantically called her mother at work to tell her what happened.

Comments

2 Responses to “Man Gets Over 18 Years In Prison For Teen Sexual Battery”

  1. Melodies4us on September 21st, 2017 9:48 pm

    Poor little girl. It would have been better that a mill stone had been tied around his neck and he thrown into the sea.

  2. Shay on September 21st, 2017 5:34 am

    Not long enough. This kind of abuse affects the victim for a lifetime. The monster inflicting the abuse should do as much time in prison.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News