Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Tim Ryan Nicholas R. Bennett, seated beside his attorney George Pappas, becomes emotional as he reads a statement at his sentencing hearing Tuesday in Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court.
A traveling basketball coach who pleaded guilty to setting up an intended sexual rendezvous with a 13-year-old boy in Shawano two years ago was sentenced Tuesday.
Nicholas R. Bennett, 25, will serve 12 years in prison and another six years’ extended supervision on a felony count of using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime.
Bennett was a basketball coach with Pro Shot Shooting Systems, which offers basketball camps and clinics in various venues across the U.S.
According to the criminal complaint, Bennett struck up an acquaintance with a 13-year-old boy during a basketball camp at Sacred Heart Catholic School, asked for the boy’s cellphone number and began texting him the next day.
The texts came to the attention of the boy’s mother, who contacted the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department. She told detectives the text messages were at first supportive of the boy’s athletic talent but gradually seemed suggestive.
Sheriff’s detectives took over the electronic communications with Bennett. As the conversations between Bennett and detectives continued, the texts became more suggestive and eventually sexually explicit, according to the complaint.
Bennett eventually suggested a meeting and was taken into custody when he arrived.
Bennett pleaded guilty in April, two days before he was set to go to trial.
The court heard testimony Tuesday from the boy’s mother, who detailed the emotional trauma the child continues to experience because of the incident.
Shawano-Menominee County District Attorney Greg Parker argued for the maximum sentence of up to 25 years in prison and 15 years of extended supervision based on what he said was Bennett’s “predatory character” as described in a pre-sentence investigation report and a psychologist’s evaluation.
“There is evidence that he used his job and position as a basketball coach/trainer to groom and have that kind of access to potential victims,” Parker said.
“Children need to be protected from him,” he said.
Defense attorney George Pappas argued for the mandatory minimum sentence of five years, which he said would be sufficient time for Bennett to undergo the required sex offender treatment.
He also noted that Bennett has not been charged or convicted of any other crimes.
Bennett has been the subject of other allegations, including from his home state in Oregon, and other investigations were said to be underway, but no charges have been filed.
In his statement to the court Tuesday, Bennett offered his “sincere apologies to the families, community and all who are involved.”
Bennett, who has been in Shawano County Jail since October 2015, said he has had a lot of time to consider his crimes and now wants to better himself, move forward and become part of the community.
“I take full responsibility for what I’ve done,” he said.
After the sentencing, Parker credited the boy’s mother for her intervention in the incident, saying her monitoring of the text messages between Bennett and the boy prevented a likely sexual assault.
“The mother of this child was spot on,” he said. “She knew immediately what was going on. Her instincts to get the sheriff’s department involved were spot on.”