Bennett Couch Sentenced to 20 Years In Prison For Child Porn & Beastiality Charges
On May 1, 2023, Kenton Circuit Judge Kate Molloy sentenced Bennett Couch to the maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison. Couch’s attorney had asked the Court for probation, arguing Couch had taken responsibility for the crime, felt great embarrassment, and had apologized “to himself.” Couch pleaded guilty in February to three counts of Distribution of Matter Portraying a Sexual Performance by a Minor, three counts of Possession of Matter Portraying a Sexual Performance by a Minor, and one count of Sexual Crimes Against an Animal.
In July of 2021, (Ret.) Det. Brian Jones with the Kenton County Police Department received a Cyber Tip Report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children which said three images of child sexual abuse material depicting prepubescent females were uploaded by a specific Tumblr account. Investigation by Det. Jones identified the account as belonging to Bennett Couch of Ft. Mitchell.
Det. Jones obtained the contents of the reported Tumblr account, and confirmed the 3 images reported by NCMEC had been “reblogged” by Couch on Tumblr. Det. Jones also determined Couch shared additional images with captions expressing a sexual interest in children, and cartoon images depicting the violent sexual assaults of children. Investigation into Couch’s Tumblr account also located images with content or captions depicting bestiality.
Det. Jones also searched the contents of Couch’s SnapChat account and conducted a forensic examination of Couch’s cell phone. Review of the SnapChat account located photos and videos of Couch engaging in a sexual act with an animal. Det. Jones identified the animal as a pet belonging to Couch’s mother.
In November of 2021, Couch was indicted by the Kenton County Grand Jury. Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Emily Arnzen refused to make any plea offers in the case. On February 2, 2022, Couch pled guilty as charged to three counts of Possession or Viewing of Matter Portraying a Sexual Performance by a Minor, three counts of Distribution of Matter Portraying a Sexual Performance by a Minor, and one count of Sexual Crimes Against an Animal. On the same day, the Court heard testimony from Det. Brian Jones and saw the evidence located on the Defendant’s electronics and social media accounts.
On cross examination of Det. Jones, Couch’s attorney implied the images of child sexual abuse material shared by Couch did not depict abuse of any child. Det. Jones immediately responded that any child being exploited by being photographed nude is being actively abused. Arnzen stressed this point, saying, “No one questions that a child who has been subjected to a sexual assault will deal with the trauma of the assault for the rest of their life. What seems to be less commonly acknowledged is victims of child sexual assault material have to deal with the trauma of their assault, as well as the added knowledge that their assault was documented or recorded for other people to see.”
Arnzen added that this case was particularly disturbing because Couch started to act on deviant sexual interests by engaging in a sexual act with an animal. “When we have cases involving online child sexual exploitation or child sexual abuse material, we are always concerned that the offender may have personally perpetrated upon a child. In this case, we found out Couch started to act on these interests, except an animal was chosen instead of a child, but a child would likely have been next.”
Couch must register for life as a sexual offender upon release.
For additional information contact:
Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders
rsanders@prosecutors.ky.gov
(859) 292-6580
Posted on Thursday, May 4th, 2023 @ 12:52PM
Categories: Blog, Commonwealth's Commentary, Media/Press Releases, Press Room
