Man sentenced to 100 years in prison for Child Molestation and Child Pornography

CATOOSA COUNTY, Ga. – On March 26, 2024, a Catoosa County jury convicted Brandon Bennett of 15 counts of child sex offenses after a two day trial before Judge Brian House.

Bennett, 39, was convicted of two counts of aggravated child molestation, one count of incest, three counts of child molestation, six counts of sexual exploitation of children, two counts of computer pornography, and one count of invasion of privacy after less than 15 minutes of deliberations by the jury.

Evidence presented at trial showed that Bennett moved to Catoosa County in 2021 at the request of his sister who was suffering from terminal cancer, to assist in caring for her three children.

Unfortunately, Bennett’s sister would succumb to her cancer in July 2021.

However, her dying wish was that Bennett care for her children, which Bennett agreed.

In February 2022, one of the children confided in a family friend that his uncle had molested him while he was sleeping and repeatedly solicited sexual acts from the child.

Further, Bennett had been soliciting sex from some of the child’s friends.

Following an investigation by the Fort Oglethorpe Police Department, Bennett and the child victim’s cell phones were seized and examined with the assistance of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations.

Located on the child’s phone were text messages sent from Bennett bragging about the sexual abuse he had already done to the child as well as soliciting additional sexual acts from the child.

Some of these messages included Bennett attempting to blackmail the child with food and privileges in exchange for sex.

On Bennett’s phone, law enforcement located several videos of Bennett molesting the child and filming the child while he was in the bathroom.

Additionally, a plethora of other child pornography was located on Bennett’s phone, some of which featuring infants being molested by adults.

At the trial, all of the electronic evidence was presented to the jury as well as the testimonies of several witnesses including Bennett’s nephew and one of the child’s friends whom Bennett was soliciting for sex but never molested.

The case was presented to the jury by Assistant District Attorney David Wolfe, who spent nearly two years preparing the case for trial with the assistance of Victim Advocate Ashely Nicholson who spent countless hours communicating with the victims and their families as well as coordinating all of the witnesses in the case.

Former Fort Oglethorpe PD Detective Tammy Davis was the lead investigator in the case and testified along with other members of local and state law enforcement as well as Holly Kittle, senior forensic interviewer from the Children’s Advocacy Center in Fort Oglethorpe.

During his closing, ADA Wolfe called Bennett a predator, highlighting the fact that Bennett had preyed on his nephew immediately after the child watched his mother suffer and succumb to cancer and was soliciting other children in the community for sex.

On March 26th, the jury found Brandon Bennett guilty of all 15 counts.

Immediately after the verdict, Judge Brian House sentenced Bennett to life with the first 100 years to be served in prison.