Ex-officer in Lima found guilty of raping teenage girl

LIMA, Ohio (AP) — A fired Ohio police officer was convicted Tuesday of raping a 16-year-old girl while he was off duty, hours after he had taken a class that warned it was illegal to have sex with someone underage.

A judge found former Lima officer Justin Bentz guilty of rape, kidnapping and sexual battery. He is to be sentenced April 14.

Bentz testified last week that the girl lured him into having sex with her. But the teen, now 17, told the judge that she repeatedly told the officer no and that she was afraid of him.

The girl was at Bentz’s home in June when he came home from work and began drinking alcohol with her, she testified. She was there because her sister is the girlfriend of Bentz’s roommate. She said Bentz began taking off her clothes and that she told him several times to stop.

Bentz, 28, testified that the girl was the aggressor and that the sex was consensual, The Lima News reported. He said he was unaware of her age and assumed she was 21.

Police officers are not permitted to have sex with a person under 18 even if they are considered old enough to consent under Ohio law.

Bentz’s attorney argued that he technically was not a “peace officer” under Ohio law on the day of the alleged rape because his continuing education requirements had lapsed. At most, Bentz could only be guilty of sexual battery, defense attorney William Kluge said.

Prosecutors said that on the day of the encounter with the teen, Bentz had finished an online continuing education class that included an overview of sexual assault crimes involving minors.

“How could it have never crossed your mind when hours before you were taking a class about sex crimes against minors,” prosecutor Todd Schroeder asked Bentz when he was on the stand last week.

Bentz replied that he didn’t think about it. “It’s not something you usually think of when someone is coming on to you,” he said.