Pensioner who raped girl, 13, jailed after daughter conceived from sex attack pursues charges
A pensioner has been sentenced for 11 years over the historical rape of a 13-year-old girl who he fathered a child with, after the daughter pursued charges against him.
The victim's daughter, who is now 45, told 74-year-old Carvel Bennett at the sentencing hearing on Tuesday that he "caused total carnage" in her life.
She told Bennett from the witness box: "Your act of violence decimated any potential relationship between my birth mother and me because you chose to rape a child."
She was put up for adoption and said: "Because you raped a child I only had seven days at the hospital with my birth mother."
In conclusion, she said: "This sentence is 46 years overdue. The pain you have caused is immeasurable.”
The victim herself told Birmingham Crown Court of her "heartbreak" at giving up her daughter, and that she has "never forgotten" the ordeal. "I just want to live the remainder of my life in peace."
Bennett had admitted having sexual intercourse with the teenager in the 1970s and accepted he is the biological father of her daughter.
But Bennett, of Erdington, Birmingham, denied a charge of rape and claimed the victim told him she was 16 and consented to sex.
After a trial, a jury took just one hour and 48 minutes to reject his account and find him guilty on Monday.
The victim's daughter told The Guardian in an interview on Monday how she was initially unable to pursue charges against Bennett because she was not the victim of the rape. It was only after her mother said she wanted to testify that she was able to do so.
She said: “I’m a walking crime scene. I wanted justice for my mum and I wanted justice for me." She is now campaigning for a change to the legal definition of who is a victim.
The full circumstances of how Bennett came into contact with the victim cannot be reported in order to protect her automatic legal right to lifelong anonymity.
Prosecutor Peter Glenser had told the court that the defendant told the girl to take her clothes off when they were alone together.
Glesner said: "She does recall saying 'I don't want to do this' and him saying 'it's going to be alright'.
"She remembers him saying he wasn't going to hurt her and she should say nothing."
Glesner revealed that a few weeks later it 'became obvious she was pregnant'.
The court heard how the victim was taken to a mother and baby home to give birth to her daughter, who was ultimately put up for adoption.
She said when she returned home she was made to sit in a chair and watch a programme about someone having to give up her child.
She said: "I had to sit there and watch it to see if I would cry. I know that's why I had to watch it. I thought I won't cry. I was adamant I wasn't going to cry. So I never."
The victim stated she was still 'shocked' at the whole ordeal but felt it was soon 'brushed under the carpet' by everyone.
The jury heard when Bennett's daughter reached the age of 18 she obtained some social security records and tracked down her mother, who revealed how she was conceived.
When she acquired her full social services records she saw that Bennett was named as her father.
Glenser said DNA results suggested it was 22 million times more likely the defendant was the girl's father than any other unknown Afro-Caribbean man unrelated to him.
Glenser had said: "In reality, there is little in dispute in this case save for the central and important issue of consent."
In an interview played to the court, the victim stated Bennett did not use any violence, but that she was "scared" to resist his attack.
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