Jury to Decide Fate of Former Plainfield Pastor Charged with Molesting 5 Girls
By Julia Terruso
There’s no way a popular pastor could have sexually assaulted young girls at a crowded church camp without anyone knowing, George Benbow’s attorney told jurors just before they began deliberations Thursday. But prosecutors say that’s exactly what happened. They say Benbow would approach girls in private corners of the camp — the basement, an empty pool and the kitchen — pull them onto his lap and move against them. On some occasions, prosecutors say, Benbow would go to the bathroom immediately afterward. Now, after listening to four weeks of emotional and sometimes graphic testimony, jurors must decide whom to believe: Benbow or five girls who have accused the former Plainfield pastor of molesting them. "This was sexual intent," Assistant Prosecutor John Esmerado said. "It wasn’t accidental. It wasn’t innocent." Benbow, 59, is accused of sexually assaulting four girls and attempting to sexually assault a fifth. The girls, who were between the ages of 9 and 13, were molested over an eight-year span, prosecutors say, beginning in April 2000 on the property of the Christian Fellowship Gospel Church, which Benbow founded, and in his home next door. The trial in Superior Court in Elizabeth has centered on taped statements from the girls’ 2008 accusations, as well as their testimony in the large Elizabeth courtroom over the past month. In four of the instances, the girls, who were either campers, counselors or baby-sitters working for the church, testified to sitting on Benbow’s lap and feeling him rub against their buttocks. The fifth alleged victim said she was in the camp pool with Benbow when he molested her after beginning to teach her how to swim. The trial ended Thursday with summations from both attorneys. Benbow’s attorney, Steven Altman, said the case against his client is based on faulty recollections and copy-cat accusations, which spread "like a firestorm" after overzealous parents and camp administrators jumped to false conclusions and started questioning the girls. "Children are extremely vulnerable to the influence of adults," Altman said. "They are especially susceptible to the suggestiveness of adults, especially when those adults happen to be parents." Altman pointed to inconsistent testimony between the 2008 taped interviews and the girls’ testimony on the stand. He also used plain language to dispute the plausibility of someone assaulting a child in a public area like a pool and suggested such allegations were ludicrous. "The man doesn’t go around seeking sexual gratification by (molesting) little children in front of a lot of people," Altman said. The attorney encouraged jurors to consider the ways children and adults see the world. "A child’s views of reality are different from an adult’s," he said. Esmerado, the assistant prosecutor, asked the jury to do the opposite and accord the same trust to the alleged victims as they would an adult. "Don’t discriminate against these children just because they’re children," he said. "We’re not here because Mr. Benbow is a father of a 1-year-old, bouncing him up and down on one knee. He’s not a Little League coach, smacking the butt of a player," Esmerado said. "What happened when those girls sat on his lap is radically different." Benbow, who chose not to testify, rejected a plea deal in January 2009 that would have resulted in a three-year prison sentence with the possibility of parole after nine months. If convicted on all counts, he could face more than 45 years in prison. The jury is to continue deliberations today.
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