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	Plainfield Pastor Charged with Sex Abuse Makes Bail By Jason Jett The Star-Ledger September 18, 2008 http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/plainfield_pastor_charged_with_1.html The Rev. George Carver Benbow Sr. of Plainfield made bail hours after his arrest in the alleged sexual assault four girls and endangerment of two others in separate incidents on church property dating to 2000. Union County Prosecutor's Office Detective Paul Han today reiterated details given at an earlier press briefing, saying Benbow was arrested at 10:30 Wednesday morning without incident at Christian Fellowship Gospel Church on Johnston Avenue. Bail was set at $150,000. Benbow was released from the Plainfield municipal jail at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday. The 56-year-old pastor and community leader could not be reached today. The phone number listed for his George Street home no longer was in service, and the church phone was answered by a machine. The church website had been pulled off-line. The prosecutor's office said the alleged incidents occurred in the pastor's house, as well as multiple areas of the church grounds, including an above-ground swimming pool. "There was contact with clothes on with young girls," county Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said. Benbow, who is married and has two grown sons, is charged with four counts of second-degree sexual assault and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. He is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 1, a prosecutor's office spokesman said. Harold Gibson, a Plainfield resident and former public safety director of Union County, said he knows the pastor from participation in public events. Gibson said the fact Benbow quickly made bail shows the extent of support the pastor has among congregants and city residents. "Everyone who heard about this is somewhat shocked and surprised," he said, adding many residents are saying the pastor should not be judged until his day in court. "You don't make a judgment call on something like this," said Gibson. "We've only heard the statement from the prosecutor's office, and should be wary of rushing to judgment. The prosecutor's office probably is much more up on the facts than any of us, but we should wait until this goes to a grand jury." The county prosecutor's office asked anyone with additional information relating to the case to call Han at (908) 965-3881.
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