CORVALLIS, Ore. — An Albany man was sentenced to two life terms without the possibility of parole on Thursday afternoon, with Judge Daniel Murphy saying he needed to protect the public from a continual, repeated and violent sexual predator.
John Virgil Benson, 32, was found guilty by Murphy of first-degree rape, second-degree sexual abuse and attempted first-degree sexual abuse at the conclusion of his one-day bench trial on Aug. 22.
“He’s going to keep doing this and there’s no reason for this court to believe there’s anything that can make him change that,” Murphy said on Thursday.
Under normal circumstances, the forcible rape of a 16-year-old girl, which occurred at a Lebanon park in 2008, would have resulted in a sentence of several years in prison.
But Benson had twice previously been convicted of felony sex crimes, making him eligible for a lifetime sentence under an Oregon law designed to combat repeat sex offenders.
Prosecutor Coleen Cerda asked for the statute to be applied to Benson’s case.
The rape victim also asked for the maximum sentence, and said that the night of Benson’s conviction was the first time in a decade she hadn’t suffered a nightmare.
“He stole my childhood. He stole my sense of safety. He stole my mental and emotional well-being. He stole my life,” the victim told Murphy.
Defense attorney Michael Lowry countered that a life sentence would be unconstitutional and disproportionately harsh, as Benson had no opportunity to reform. The attorney noted that the third strike, for which Benson was being sentenced on Thursday, actually happened a decade ago, before he committed the other crimes.
Benson previously was convicted of attempted sodomy in 2011 and of attempted sex abuse in 2016.
The Lebanon rape case lay dormant for years, but in 2016, detectives picked it up again, and Benson was charged in 2017.
“When is he on notice not to commit new crimes? In 2008? It’s impossible,” Lowry said.
Lowry asked for a sentence of nearly nine years in prison.
Murphy, however, said that the court found Benson to be an incorrigible sex offender and predator, and the statute was aimed at protecting the public. The timeline didn’t matter as much as the individual’s nature, according to Murphy.
“The defendant has had multiple opportunities to change his behavior, multiple opportunities to seek treatment. … The egregiousness of the defendant’s conduct has escalated over time,” Murphy added.
Murphy noted during the hearing that there was little existing case law on the issues present in Benson’s case, so an appeal was likely.
Lowry said it would be up to Benson to appeal. “I do think it’s a new issue and it should be looked at,” Lowry said, after the hearing.
Outside the courtroom, the rape victim, now an adult, hugged Lebanon Police Department detectives and Cerda.
“He’s never going to hurt anyone again,” she said, as she embraced Cerda.
