Staunton jury convicts man on lesser charges in assault case

A defendant went on trial last week in Staunton amid allegations he sexually assaulted a young girl in 2022 and 2023.

Christopher D. Bennett, 41, of Bellington, West Virginia, was facing a felony charge of aggravated sexual battery and a misdemeanor charge of sexual battery. However, a jury in Staunton Circuit Court found him guilty on two amended charges of misdemeanor assault and battery.

Bennett was sentenced to 16 months in jail.

The girl, a teenager, testified that in 2022, Bennett, known to her family, often grabbed her backside. On another occasion, she said he snuck up behind her “and bit my butt,” causing her to scream.

“It hurt,” the girl said. Bennett apologized, and she didn’t tell anyone about the incident at the time, according to her testimony.

Over time, the girl said Bennett would make comments about her body, causing her to feel uncomfortable, and told her “that he could not wait until I was 18.” She also said when he was at her family’s Staunton home that he would sometimes use the bathroom while she was taking a shower. Another time, the girl testified that he licked her face.

She also accused Bennett of grabbing her and shaking her. The girl reported the allegations in December 2024 after confiding with a sibling.

During her opening statement, Linda Czyzyk, of the Staunton Public Defender’s Office, reminded the jury that to convict Bennett of a sexual battery the commonwealth had to prove he touched the girl with the intent to sexually molest her.

“It’s not sufficient if you find that he did so if he was joking around or trying to annoy her,” the attorney said.

Given the option to convict Bennett on amended charges of assault, the jury found him guilty on the two misdemeanors.

Afterward, Staunton Commonwealth’s Attorney John Baber said that while the jury had legal misgivings about certain aspects of the case being proven “they believed he committed acts of assault.”

Czyzyk said her client was honest with police and admitted crossing the line, and noted when he licked the child’s face that he was mimicking something he’d seen in a movie.

“Clearly, the jury felt that it didn’t rise to the level of a sexual offense,” she said of Bennett’s actions.

Circuit Judge Anne Reed sentenced Bennett to two years in jail with eight months suspended, giving him 16 months to serve. He was also placed on two years of supervised probation.

“The reason I asked for some period of time to be suspended was to get him the supervised probation, because he needs to be watched,” Baber said.

Bennett is being held at Middle River Regional Jail in Verona.