Mike Deak

@MikeDeakMyCJ

PLAINFIELD - A former city pastor has lost the appeal of his conviction and prison sentence after he was found guilty on two counts of sexual assault and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child.



George Benbow, 64, the founding pastor of Plainfield's Christian Fellowship Gospel Church, is serving an 11-year sentence at South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton.



Benbow was found guilty of molesting several girls at a summer camp run by his church between 2000 and 2008.



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Benbow was arrested in 2008 and was found guilty and sentenced four years later.



In a ruling released Thursday, the state appellate court rejected all of Benbow's arguments to overturn the conviction and sentence.



Benbow argued that his sentence was excessive and that Superior Court Judge Stuart Peim committed errors during the trial.



The appellate court found that Peim had not made errors during the trial and the 11-year sentence was not "an abuse of discretion" by the judge.



"Contrary to (Benbow's) argument," the appellate court wrote, "the fact that he molested four children over a period of several years demonstrates a future likelihood of re-offense and there is a strong need to deter defendant from engaging in these offenses in the future."



At a preliminary hearing in Benbow's case, the girls, who were 8 or 9 at the time of the incidents, testified that he induced them to sit on his lap and either held them down or moved under them so they could feel his genitals rubbing against them, court papers said.



Also at the hearing, an adult testified that when confronted about his conduct, Benbow said the girls must have misunderstood what happened. He asserted that what the girls felt must have been his wallet or keys.



There was also testimony at that hearing the incidents took place while other children were nearby.



Benbow's defense focused on the theory that the girls were "suggestible children who either copied each other's allegations or embroidered their recollections based on suggestive questioning by adults," court papers say.



But the jury rejected that defense and found Benbow guilty after five days of deliberations that were interrupted when one juror was excused because of a family emergency.



Staff Writer Mike Deak: 908-243-6607; mdeak@mycentraljhersey.com



