Judge tells teen it’s time to follow rules, be a man

By Matt Snyder
Herald Staff Writer

HERMITAGE March 26, 2007 08:37 pm

— A 19-year-old Hermitage man who pleaded guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl and to drug and drunken driving charges was sentenced Monday to 92 days to a year in prison and six years’ probation.
Robert Stewart Benger, formerly of Hermitage, pleaded guilty Feb. 6 to charges of possession of controlled substances, statutory sexual assault, drunken driving, and driving during suspension.
Benger said he is working on a fresh start in North Carolina, and was accompanied by his father to court on Monday.
“You have to get a mindset right now that you’re going to follow the rules and regulations,” Mercer County Judge Christopher St. John said. “All the excuses you’ve had in your life are understandable. But now it’s time to turn things around and take responsibility and become a man.”
Benger was 18 when he had sex with the girl, who was a runaway at the time. Benger told police she said she was 16.
Police said a policeman had seen Benger with the girl and warned him she was 13, but Benger said in court Monday that this occurred after he had sex with her.
“We talked, but it wasn’t anything with school, grades, or anything,” he told St. John, after being asked how he could not have known her age.
Benger first fell into trouble when he was found with 11 Clonazepam, an anti-seizure medication, and a Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, police said.
Three days later, police said he approached the policeman who had arrested him to tell the officer about a fight he had been in, and after being asked if he had illegal drugs with him, revealed five Clonazepam and 5 Flexeril pills, a muscle relaxant.
It was the next day when police were told about Benger and the runaway girl, police said.
At his sentencing hearing, Benger told St. John he had “given up” during the period he committed the crimes and after dropping out of high school.
Judge St. John indicated from letters written by members of Benger’s family — mostly on his father’s side — that there was a difficult situation at home after his parents divorced.
Benger said his mother, who raised him after his parents divorced, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and resides in a group home.