In Manchester abuse case, man is free, tightly supervised

Jun. 27—A Hartford man is free on $300,000 bond — albeit under intensive supervision with GPS monitoring of his whereabouts — while facing charges that he molested a girl in Manchester more than a decade ago, when she was 5 to 7 years old.

ABUSE CHARGES

DEFENDANT: Eduardo Benitez, 40, of Hartford

CHARGES: Four counts of first-degree sexual assault, two based on allegations of forcible rape and two based on the girl's age at the time; two counts each of second-degree sexual assault and third-degree sexual assault

STATUS: Free on $300,000 bond, with intensive pretrial supervision and GPS monitoring of his whereabouts; next due Aug. 2 in Hartford Superior Court

The man, Eduardo Benitez, 40, denied the accusations in a telephone conversation with Manchester police Detective Joseph N. Davis, the detective reported in an affidavit.

But Davis went on to detail how Benitez scheduled two interviews with him to discuss the allegations and failed to appear for either — as well as putting him off in various telephone conversations about plans to meet.

When contacted recently, Benitez's lawyer, Gerald M. Klein, declined to comment on the substance of the allegations.

Benitez is next scheduled to be in Hartford Superior Court on Aug. 2. Klein said the case is to be reassigned to a different prosecutor.

While Benitez is free on bond, he is subject to a program called intensive pretrial supervision with GPS monitoring of his whereabouts, court records show.

The girl's mother reported the allegations to Manchester police in September 2019, the detective reported.

She said her daughter, who was then a teenager, had disclosed the sexual abuse to her during an argument. The mother reported that her daughter said that her mother was unable to protect her, and had gone on to detail the sexual abuse.

In an interview with the detective, the girl said Benitez threatened that if she told anyone about the abuse, he would kill "Mom and all of us," Davis reported.

She said in a subsequent forensic interview at the Klingberg Children's Advocacy Center that she was "terrified" by these threats, which she said Benitez typically made at the end of each episode of abuse, according to the detective.

The girl also said during the interview that Benitez played pornography for her on the television before abusing her the first few times, then told her he wanted her to do what was shown in the videos.

The girl said that she told her brother and a friend about the abuse.

The charges against Benitez include four counts of first-degree sexual assault, two based on the accusation that he raped her through the threats of violence against her and her family, and two based on her age at the time.

Because she was younger than 10 when she says the sexual abuse occurred, each first-degree sexual assault charge carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of 25 years.

Benitez is also facing two counts each of second-degree sexual assault and third-degree sexual assault, records show.

For updates on Glastonbury, and recent crime and courts coverage in North-Central Connecticut, follow Alex Wood on Twitter: @AlexWoodJI1, Facebook: Alex Wood, and Instagram: @AlexWoodJI.

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