St. Tammany jury finds Folsom man guilty of aggravated incest, attempted molestation of juvenile

Feb. 10--A 30-year-old Folsom man was found guilty of aggravated incest of a victim under 12 and attempted molestation of a juvenile by a jury in 22nd Judicial District Court Friday.

Todd Bennett, 30, faces 25 to 99 years in prison, according to a spokeswoman for 22nd Judicial District Attorney Warren Montgomery. He will be sentenced on March 27 by Judge Richard A. Swartz Jr.

Bennett was charged with two counts of aggravated rape, but he was found not guilty on one of the counts. The jury found him guilty of attempted molestation of a juvenile in place of the second count. He was found guilty as charged of aggravated incest.

Bennett was 18 to 20 years old, and his victim was 10 to 12 years old when the abuse began, spokeswoman Lisa Page said. On multiple occasions over a period of years, Bennett touched the girl's genitals and force her to touch him, and once attempted to rape her.

The victim, who testified in court, said that Bennett twice forced her to perform oral sex on him. She testified that she feared telling anyone because of threats that Bennett had made.

The victim confided in her boyfriend about the abuse when she became a teenager, and the boyfriend confronted Bennett on Thanksgiving Day in 2012, Page said. At that point, her parents learned of the abuse and contacted police.

Bennett then fled St. Tammany Parish and was not arrested until July 2014, when he was picked up in Arkansas on the St. Tammany Parish warrant.

Assistant District Attorneys Jay Adair and Becky Jo Hollen prosecuted the case.

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