A registered sex offender who assaulted his date while she slept was rumbled after she read about his hideous past online. David Bennett had shared drinks with a woman at her home one evening last May, having earlier agreed to go on a date.
They briefly went to a friend’s house together, before returning to her home. Lancashire Police says the victim was then unable to recall the rest of the night.
While she was asleep and unresponsive, Bennett sexually assaulted her. The 40-year-old from Skelmersdale, near Wigan, filmed the attacks on his phone – while his victim had no recollection of what happened.
Bennett attempted to contact her numerous times in the days which followed. The woman grew concerned by his strange behaviour and decided to search his name on the internet.
She discovered newspaper articles relating Bennett’s previous offending, before contacting police. Officers arrested Bennett and seized his phone, where they discovered videos of him sexually assaulting the woman while she was unresponsive and not moving.
Bennett, of Blythewood, Skelmersdale, was found guilty by a jury of two offences of sexual assault following a trial. He appeared at Preston Crown Court on Monday (January 13), where the judge sentenced him a 10-year sentence, comprising five years in prison with an extended five-year licence period.
Preston Crown Court
(Image: MEN Media)
An indefinite restraining order and an indefinite sexual harm prevention order were also imposed by the judge. Detective Constable Chris Wilding, of Lancashire Police’s South Division Rape and Serious Sexual Offences team, said: “David Bennett is a dangerous offender and I welcome the lengthy prison sentence which the judge passed.
“He committed abhorrent offences against his victim who was unable to defend herself. We take all offences of a sexual nature very seriously and will investigate them thoroughly so that offenders can be brought to justice.”
In January 2015, the Liverpool Echo reported that Bennett sexually assaulted a woman who was sat outside Skelmersdale police station. The court heard he grabbed the woman’s leg, rubbed her feet and kissed her toes, while exposing himself and carrying a knife in his waistband.
He was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment with three years’ extended licence. Liverpool Crown Court heard Bennett had earlier been convicted of sexual assaults against children under 14 ‘involving similar foot fetish behaviour’.