Bentz gets a 3-year sentence

A former Jay County Jail correction officer will spend time on home detention and probation for engaging in sexual relations with an inmate.

William Brandon Bentz, 36, Portland, was sentenced to one year of house arrest and two years of probation Thursday. 

His sentence comes a month after he pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual misconduct in which a service provider engages in fondling or touching with a person who is subject to lawful detention or supervision with the intent to arouse or satisfy sexual desires, all three Level 6 felonies.

As part of his plea agreement, a Level 5 felony for sexual misconduct when the service provider engages in sexual intercourse or other sexual conduct with the person subject to lawful detention or supervision was dismissed.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed in connection with the case, Bentz engaged in sexual acts with an inmate, identified as J.G., in March and April 2024. Bentz allegedly fondled the inmate's breasts and vagina on several occasions, allowed her to touch his penis and took her into an exam room at the jail, where she allegedly performed oral sex on him April 28.

Bentz apologized to the court and to his wife.

“It was out of character, I don’t have any excuse,” he said.

Alexa Bentz, William Bentz’s wife, said she wouldn’t be able to care for her children in her current job without her husband’s help. She said he is an active part of their children’s lives.

“I just feel like this incident was an out of character incident,” she said.

Jay County chief deputy prosecutor Zech Landers questioned which incident Alexa Bentz was referring to, pointing out the defendant pleaded guilty to three different charges. He noted Alexa Bentz was working at Jay County Jail when the crimes occurred.

Alexa Bentz confirmed she and her husband have not told their children about the incident.

“(Is it) because it’s shameful, reprehensible behavior?” asked Jay Circuit Court Judge Brian Hutchison.

Alexa Bentz agreed but also pointed to their ages — they are 11, 8 and 6 years old — and said the younger children may not be able to understand.

Diane Bentz Cooper, William Bentz’s aunt, talked about how her nephew has been helping care for her father, who has stage 4 cancer and goes through treatments five days a week. When Bentz has a day off, she said, he’s there to help.

“It’s a blessing,” she said, to have her nephew around.

Landers pushed for William Bentz to receive 4.5 years in jail, suggesting 18 months for each count and for the sentences to be served consecutively. Pointing to the probable cause affidavit, Landers said the woman who William Bentz engaged in sexual relations with was fearful of him. He also argued the fact that William Bentz has dependents had no bearing on the crimes he committed, saying he didn’t care about how it would impact his children.

“He cared about satisfying his own sexual desires,” Landers said.

 Bentz’s lawyer Gary Lee Colasessano asked for the court to grant William Bentz a suspended sentence, with charges to be served concurrently. He also pointed to William Bentz’s lack of a criminal record before the incident and shared his belief that William Bentz would be receptive to probation.

“He’s never going to work in law enforcement again, (it’s) never going to happen again,” Colasessano said.

Hutchison agreed with Colasessano, saying he also thinks William Bentz will be receptive to probation.

Hutchison said he believed the case had one aggravating circumstance — William Bentz’s position of power in the incident.

“You were in a position of control,” he said. “Even if you think she was a willing participant, she wasn’t. You were in control.”

He noted offenders’ families commonly see hardships because of the offender’s actions. He said he wasn’t sure this case resulted in an undue hardship in which the court needed to take it into account.

Hutchison said he didn’t think the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances or vice versa. He sentenced William Bentz to three years in jail, with one count to be served on home detention and the other two counts to be served on probation. 

William Bentz was given two days credit and ordered to start home detention no later than Tuesday.