Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Accused molester arraigned
Spokane Valley man held on $500,000 bail
Sara Leaming
Staff writer
A Spokane Valley man accused of molesting several boys in three states was arraigned Monday in Wallace, Idaho.
Bail for Ken Bennett, 40, was set at $500,000. Bennett is currently being held at the Shoshone County Jail.
One of Bennett's alleged victims, a 15-year-old boy, and his mother were in court Monday pleading with the judge for the exceptional bond.
"I feared that if they let him out on bond we would never see him again," the boy's mother, who lives in Spokane County, said later in the day.
Bennett is accused in Shoshone County of two counts of lewd and lascivious conduct involving the boy. Bennett was a fugitive until Thursday, when he turned himself in to Shoshone County authorities.
Original charges for the Shoshone County case were filed in October 2002. Prosecutor Val Siegel said Bennett violated the terms of his release pending trial by having contact with minors.
During his release, authorities believe Bennett may have molested more boys in Montana and Washington. Investigations are now pending in both states.
"We learned he had allegedly molested another boy in Mineral County (Mont.)," Siegel said.
Shoshone County authorities say that Bennett admitted during an interview in February that he molested three boys from Post Falls, after driving them to his home in Spokane Valley. Transcripts from that interview were forwarded to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office, but the information was not acted upon.
A warrant was not issued for Bennett's arrest in Shoshone County until Oct. 6, when Siegel learned of the allegations in Montana in late September.
The mother of the 15-year-old boy in the original case blames the Spokane County detectives for not looking into Bennett's actions sooner.
"It's been almost a year and half," she said. "It's unfortunate that he walked in and out of court orders. It was really unfair to our family that there were more victims out there."
The woman said Monday's bail amount finally "felt like justice."
"I was just concerned that if he got out, he would seek out more victims," she said, adding that her son came to Monday's court appearance "to see the wheels of justice turning."
"And that's exactly what he saw happen," she said.
