Officials announced last week that a Georgia man was sentenced to life in prison for sexually abusing his nephew after the boy’s mother died of cancer in 2021.
Fetch Your News reported that Brandon Bennett, 39, moved in with his terminally ill sister in 2021 to help care for her three children. The woman’s dying wish was for Bennett to continue caring for her children, to which Bennett agreed.
Bennett’s sister died later that year. In February 2022, one of the children told a family friend that Bennett had molested him as he slept and repeatedly solicited him for sex. Bennett was also accused of soliciting some of his nephew’s friends, according to Fetch Your News.
Fort Oglethorpe police recovered evidence of the abuse from Bennett and the victim’s phones — including messages in which Bennett used food and other privileges for sex. Child pornography was also found in Bennett’s phone, according to the Chatanooga Times Free Press.
The news outlet reported that one of the people who testified at Bennett’s trial was the victim’s friend who was solicited for sex. Prosecutors characterized Bennett as a predator who immediately exploited his nephew after he watched his mother die of cancer.
It took the jury less than 15 minutes to find Bennett guilty of various charges, including aggravated child molestation and incest. Bennett was convicted in March, and he was immediately sentenced to life with the first 100 years to be served in prison.
[Feature Photo: Mountain Judicial District Attorney’s Office]
