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Girl testifies of rape by her grandfather
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
A 12-year-old girl who lived with her grandparents on Belvedere Avenue Southeast from age 6 to 11 told a jury Monday her grandfather raped her multiple times per week for more than three years.
Rick A. Benchea, 62, is on trial in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on 12 counts of rape that each could result in a life prison sentence if he’s convicted.
The girl said the rapes began when she was about 8 and generally occurred in Benchea’s bedroom when his wife was working or in another room. The rapes generally occurred at night, she said.
The conduct started with groping when the girl was 7, she said, and progressed.
He always said, “Do me a favor” and “Promise not to tell,” the girl testified. She never told anyone until her mother questioned her about it, she said.
The girl and her brother almost never saw their mother during the years they lived with their grandparents, she said.
“This case is about trust — trust that this man violated when he continually molested his granddaughter,” Gabe Wildman, assistant county prosecutor, said during opening statements.
“This man’s a rapist and child molester. Period,” Wildman told the jury of seven women and five men in the courtroom of Judge Andrew Logan.
By age 9, she was forced to perform oral sex on Benchea, and the form of rape changed in the next couple of years, Wildman said.
The girl testified the rapes occurred two or more times per week for several years.
Edward Hartwig, attorney for Benchea, however, said during opening statements there won’t be any evidence from any other person besides the girl.
“What you won’t see is anyone who said it happened, nobody suspected it happened,” Hartwig said, adding that the girl lived there with a brother, male cousin and two dogs.
The girl remained composed throughout her testimony and cross-examination by Hartwig. She stated a few times she didn’t want to answer certain questions, but when Wildman asked her to stand up and point out the man she said had raped her, she pointed to Benchea.
During cross-examination, Hartwick asked her if there was anything unusual about her grandfather’s genitals, and she called that a “dumb question,” asking how she would know since she’d never seen any other.
The girl said she never told her brother about the rapes because Benchea was “abusive and a very scary man,” adding, “He used to hit my brother and my cousin on a daily basis.”
Benchea is charged with two counts of gross sexual imposition, which accuse him of groping the girl when she was 7.
Those charges would carry a penalty of up to several years in prison each if he’s convicted.