A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for two new child pornography charges against a Hurricane man authorities say faked his death and who already faces trial on 11 counts of sexually abusing three girls.
Two charges of sexual exploitation of a minor were added March 16, the day Arthur Bennett, 44, would have stood trial. The trial was continued because a jury could not be seated from a pool of 40.The additional charges were added after investigators found photographs of one of the three victims, said Brent Langston, deputy Washington County attorney.
Judge James Shumate said at a hearing to review the charges Wednesday that he would not have allowed Bennett to be tried for the additional counts without a preliminary hearing. Shumate set it for April 24.
After the preliminary hearing, a trial date will be set and a 60-person pool will be called to jury duty.
Defense attorney Ken Combs' request for a change of venue will be reviewed if a jury cannot be seated.
Bennett lived in Hurricane 2 1/2 years as Joseph Benson before he became the focus of investigations in three states and by the federal government after his arrest by Hurricane police Oct. 31.
He is wanted on a Marine Corps desertion warrant from Yuma, Ariz., and a Las Vegas warrant for two counts of sexual assault with a victim under 16.
Bennett had been pronounced dead in 1994 when a badly burned body was discovered after a fire in Bennett's travel trailer near Las Vegas. Police thought Bennett had committed suicide.
Three girls testified at a November preliminary hearing that Bennett sexually assaulted them.