Scott Bennett, a longtime collaborator of Beach Boy Brian Wilson, has been convicted of rape following an incident that took place in December 5, 2014, at Oklahoma's Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
Bennett was convicted on April 29 following a week-long trial. He was found guilty of rape by instrumentation and sexual battery, and is due for sentencing on June 14. Tulsaworld reports [via Rolling Stone] that a jury has already suggested a five-year prison sentence.
Hours after Wilson and his band performed at the Hard Rock Hotel, surveillance footage showed Bennett with a 21-year-old female.
The video shows Bennett refusing to let the young woman leave the elevator they were both on. He later sexually assaulted her in the hallway on the hotel's 12th floor before the two went to his hotel room. She left 35 minutes later.
The prosecutor told the jury that Bennett "left her like a sack of trash" on the hotel's 7th floor, where she was discovered the next morning.
In the affidavit, a Oklahoma police officer said, "It is clear from watching the video that the victim is extreamly [sic] intoxicated and is unaware of her surroundings.... The subject however appears to be in complete control of his faculties."
Bennett has been a Brian Wilson collaborator since 1998, when he first appeared as a guitarist on Imagination. His credits span up to 2015, when he appeared on No Pier Pressure.
A representative for Brian Wilson posted the following statement to the performer's official message board on his behalf:
What has happened between my former keyboard player Scott Bennett and the Rogers County District Court in Claremont, OK is a matter between them. I have no further comment.
Bennett was convicted on April 29 following a week-long trial. He was found guilty of rape by instrumentation and sexual battery, and is due for sentencing on June 14. Tulsaworld reports [via Rolling Stone] that a jury has already suggested a five-year prison sentence.
Hours after Wilson and his band performed at the Hard Rock Hotel, surveillance footage showed Bennett with a 21-year-old female.
The video shows Bennett refusing to let the young woman leave the elevator they were both on. He later sexually assaulted her in the hallway on the hotel's 12th floor before the two went to his hotel room. She left 35 minutes later.
The prosecutor told the jury that Bennett "left her like a sack of trash" on the hotel's 7th floor, where she was discovered the next morning.
In the affidavit, a Oklahoma police officer said, "It is clear from watching the video that the victim is extreamly [sic] intoxicated and is unaware of her surroundings.... The subject however appears to be in complete control of his faculties."
Bennett has been a Brian Wilson collaborator since 1998, when he first appeared as a guitarist on Imagination. His credits span up to 2015, when he appeared on No Pier Pressure.
A representative for Brian Wilson posted the following statement to the performer's official message board on his behalf:
What has happened between my former keyboard player Scott Bennett and the Rogers County District Court in Claremont, OK is a matter between them. I have no further comment.