19-year-old man gets life prison term for raping girl

WARREN — Eric A. Benson Jr., 19, of 12th Street in Weathersfield Township, and Broadway in Youngstown, was sentenced today to life in prison with parole eligibility after 10 years for raping a girl, then 5, at a playground in Suburban Trailer Park in Warren Township last August.

Benson pleaded guilty in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to rape and received the sentence proposed by prosecutors to Judge Andrew Logan.

Weathersfield police were called to the playground for a disturbance with witnesses, said Weathersfield Police Chief Michael Naples.

Police were then advised of the assault that had occurred no more than a few hours earlier, Naples said. Benson was arrested a short time later.