Bentley to stand trial for charges of raping unconscious girl

A Merced Superior Court commissioner ordered a 19-year-old man to stand trial for rape charges stemming from a summer house party in Winton where he and a teen boy played rock, paper, scissors to determine who would first have sex with an unconscious teen girl.

“I do find the facts of the case to be more egregious than other cases of this nature,” Commissioner Jeanne Schechter said. “There’s some evidence of an actual plan to sexually assault the victim.”

During the preliminary examination on Monday, Deputy District Attorney Ilia McKinney played phone calls between the victim and Bentley that were secretly recorded. The sheriff’s deputy who interviewed the victim and a sheriff’s detective also testified, recounting interviews with the victim, suspect Braxton Bentley and the other teen boy involved.

Bentley has pleaded not guilty to four felony counts, including rape by use of drugs, rape of an unconscious person and conspiracy to commit a crime. Bentley is represented by Deputy Public Defender Armando Lope.

The complaint alleges that Bentley encouraged the victim to drink until she was so drunk she had to be carried to a bedroom where Bentley and the other teen had sex with her.

Ralph Zyskowski, a detective with the Merced County Sheriff’s Office, described three interviews with Bentley. Bentley denied having sex with the victim until a report from the Department of Justice showed his DNA was found on the victim’s underwear. During the interview, Bentley admitted that the victim was too drunk to give verbal consent to sex, Zyskowski said.

Zyskowski said Bentley’s statements during the three interviews were inconsistent. “I needed some clarification,” Zyskowski said. “How could he recall having a cigarette but not having sex?”

Bentley is charged with a fifth misdemeanor count of unlawful sex with a minor not more than three years younger than him. That charge involves another confidential victim, Bentley’s girlfriend, who was present at the hearing.

Lope asked Schechter to consider releasing Bentley from Merced County Jail on a monitor based on unusual circumstances. Bentley’s girlfriend was pregnant with his child, which was delivered stillborn within the last week. Lope asked that Bentley be released to attend the funeral.

Schechter denied the release, saying Bentley’s was a high risk situation. But, if documentation of the funeral arrangements were shown, Schechter said she might consider granting a pass.

This story was originally published April 24, 2017 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Bentley to stand trial for charges of raping unconscious girl."