Former Davenport man goes on trial for sex crime

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By Jeff Reinitz, Waterloo Courier | Wednesday, October 4, 2006 10:50 AM CDT | () comments

TODAY: (Updated 10:48 a.m.) WATERLOO -- A Waterloo man with a record of sex crimes dating back to when he was a teenager in Davenport is on trial to determine if he should be committed to mental health facility for treatment.

Scott Bennett, 35, recently finished serving prison time for entering the home of a Black Hawk County woman and exposing himself to her when she awoke.

Now, the Iowa Attorney General's Office wants Bennett confined under the state’s sexually violent predator laws. If the state is successful, he will remain there until he has completed treatment and is found to be less of a risk.

Bennett’s first offense occurred when he was 16 and lived in the Annie Wittenmyer Home in Davenport. He had forced a younger boy there to perform oral sex on him and anally raped another boy. Because of the attacks, he was sent to the State Training School for Boys in Eldora until he was released at age 18.

A psychologist diagnosed Bennett with paraphelia and anti-social personality disorder, Assistant Attorney General Becky Goettsch told jurors as Bennett’s trial opened Tuesday.

She said this “mental abnormality” makes it more likely than not that Bennett will commit another sex crime.

Bennett’s attorney, Steven Addington of Des Moines, said that although his client has been convicted of sex crimes, he doesn’t suffer from a mental abnormality and should be allowed to go free.

“Dwelling on just the past is not enough,” Addington said. “The evidence will compel you to let Scott Bennett roam these streets a free man.”

The defense will counter testimony from the state’s doctor with two other doctors, he said.

Bennett dominated the stand Tuesday outlining his history, which was sometimes at odds with what Goettsch said was reflected in social service, mental health and corrections reports.

While incarcerated, Bennett was kicked out of sex offender treatment programs for rule infractions, Goettsch said.

Bennett said he finally completed treatment. He said he learned from the classes but didn’t use what he learned when he was freed.

Bennett’s troubles began to develop at a young age.

“I learned sex from my uncle, by being molested by my uncle,” Bennett said.

It was the discovery of that abuse, which happened when he was 12, that prompted human services officials to remove him from his home.

From there, he bounced from group homes like Oakdale to foster homes. He also was sent to Davenport.

In 1994, at age 23, he developed a relationship with a 15-year-old Grundy County girl after flipping through a phone book and cold calling her "teenline" listing.

The girl told her parents Bennett was younger, and their relationship included consensual sex, Goettsch said.

After the relationship ended, Bennett appeared at her home in September 1994 and forced her to have sex with him.

Convicted of third-degree sexual abuse, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison but was given work release.

Goettsch said this was a failure because Bennett was often found harassing women in the downtown Waterloo area with lewd comments when he should have been looking for employment.

His probation was revoked in 2000, and he went to prison until about a year later.

Not long after that, Bennett was working for a private sanitation crew when he became interested in a Black Hawk County woman on his garbage route, Goettsch said.

He took phone records from her trash and called her repeatedly to make sexual comments. When she disconnected her phone, he began knocking at her door.

Then in September 2001, the woman awoke to find Bennett in her living room holding his genitals and making sexual comments.

He was convicted of burglary and indecent exposure, but his behavior didn’t stop while he was in prison.

Bennett made 3,000 phone calls and sent a number of unsolicited sexually explicit letters -- including sex questionnaires -- to women while behind bars. Some of the recipients included people on other inmates’ visitor lists, Goettsch said.

On the stand, Bennett said the phone calls were made on behalf of other inmates because they had been barred from talking to the women. He admitted the calls were of a sexual nature.

Some of the letters were sent to names he obtained from a dating service that provided addresses for women with specific sexual interests, Bennett said. He said not all of the letters he sent were about sex and said he just wanted to get mail while in prison.

The civil trial continues today at the Black Hawk County Courthouse.

Contact Jeff Reinitz at (319) 291-1458 or jeff.reinitz@wcfcourier.com.