Prosecution Cross of Wayne Bent
Cross examination of Wayne Bent - by Tomas Benevidez
Judge Baca: Cross examination.
Tomas Benevidez: Yes, your Honor. Thank you.
What is your name?
Wayne Bent: Wayne Bent.
Tomas Benevidez: Did you go by any other name?
Wayne Bent: Michael Travesser, sometimes.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok. And what do you prefer to be called?
Wayne Bent: Either.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok. And are both of you here today?
(Laughter from courtroom visitors)
Pardon?
Wayne Bent: (chuckling) Yes!
Tomas Benevidez: Ok, thank you. Mr. Bent... Or, is that fine with you?
Wayne Bent: Uh huh.
Tomas Benevidez: Did you give a statement to police officer, officer Martinez?
Wayne Bent: That was in the...
Tomas Benevidez: That’s when they went out... to your house. Do you recall that?
Wayne Bent: Are you talking about when I was taken... taken in for interrogation?
Tomas Benevidez: Yeah. When officer Martinez interviewed you.
Wayne Bent: I don’t think officer Martinez did.
Tomas Benevidez: Do you recall him asking you about stuff regarding the seven virgins?
Ms. Montoya: Objection, your Honor.
Judge Baca: What is your objection?
Ms. Montoya: Beyond the scope.
Judge Baca: Alright. And your response?
Tomas Benevidez: Yes, your Honor. It is not beyond the scope. The scope has a relation to the charges at hand and this whole idea that there were seven virgins and that the two individuals were two of those virgins, and that he had intimate contact with them. So, I am setting that up.
Judge Baca: Alright, I’m going to allow it. It is over-ruled. You may proceed.
Tomas Benevidez: Do you remember him asking you about anything about ten letters and seven virgins?
Wayne Bent: Well, I don’t recall anything about ten letters.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok. Do you recall you saying that "I don’t mind telling you because we already published this on the web site? It’s public knowledge?"
Wayne Bent: Well, I may have. I would have to listen to the interview again. I don’t remember his interrogation.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok.
Wayne Bent: But, I don’t think it was Mr. Martinez. It was some other officer.
Tomas Benevidez: Do you recall Mr. Martinez asking you about, a little more about the seven virgins and what happened? And your reply was that it was in 2006.
Ms. Montoya: Your honor, I’m going to object. I think Mr. Bent has already stated that he does not believe that it was officer Martinez, who was questioning him.
Judge Baca: Do you have a copy of the statement?
Tomas Benevidez: Yes, your Honor.
Judge Baca: Why don’t we show it to the witness and see if that refreshes his recollection.
Tomas Benevidez: May I approach the witness, your Honor?
Judge Baca: Certainly.
Tomas Benevidez: Mr. Bent would you take some time and look at that.
Some time elapses, presumably for the reading of the statement.
Judge Baca: You may proceed, Mr. Bent. You may proceed.
Tomas Benevidez: Does that help refresh your memory?
Wayne Bent: I’m just through the introduction.
Tomas Benevidez: I’m sorry.
Wayne Bent: I’m just through the introduction, I’m trying to get to the part of the seven virgins, so I can...
Judge Baca: Maybe you can direct him to the page.
Wayne Bent: I think I found it.
Tomas Benevidez: 2006?
Wayne Bent: Yeah.
Tomas Benevidez: Where it says 2006. So, do you recall that?
Wayne Bent: No, I don’t.
Tomas Benevidez: Do you recall making a statement to agent Martinez that you try not to protect yourself?
No response from Bent.
Ms. Montoya: Your Honor, I think he has already testified that he doesn’t recall this statement.
Judge Baca: I think that’s the question. Does he recall that particular statement. You may answer.
Wayne Bent: No, I don’t. But I could have made a statement like that, because that’s true.
Tomas Benevidez: That you put basically, several years before, that you were, "praying to Father and he told me to take my hands off things so I... like and not to protect myself?"
Ms. Montoya: I’m sorry.
Wayne Bent: I recall.
Sidebar
Judge Baca: All right, Mr. Benevidez you may proceed.
Tomas Benevidez: Thank you, your Honor. Mr. Bent, do you recall on August 2nd 2008, talking with the criminal agents Matthew Martinez and Jessie Williams?
Ms. Montoya: Objection your Honor. Prosecution has misstated the date. There was no such interview in 2008.
Judge Baca: I’m sorry I didn’t hear you.
Ms. Montoya: There was no such statement given to the State Police in 2008 on August 2nd.
Judge Baca: Is that the date of the interview?
Tomas Benevidez: Your Honor. No, I was mistaken.
Judge Baca: Ok the objection is sustained.
Tomas Benevidez: Do you recall giving a statement to criminal agents Matthew Martinez and Jessie Williams?
Wayne Bent: Yes, I do. Jessie Williams is the one I remember.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok. Do you recall giving statements regarding... giving statements about the two girls L.S. and A.S. and what happened in your bedroom on August 2nd 2006 and July 31st 2006?
Wayne Bent: I may have.
Tomas Benevidez: And did you make a statement that, "God let me know real clear not to save myself"... save yourself?
Ms Montoya: Asked and answered, your Honor.
Tomas Benevidez: This is different, your Honor
Judge Baca: I think you did ask that question. I’ll sustain the objection.
Tomas Benevidez: Do you recall giving a statement that you laid naked with them?
Wayne Bent: I don’t remember most of the interrogation. It may be because of the stress of the moment.
Sidebar
Judge Baca: You may proceed sir.
Tomas Benevidez: Do you ever remember giving statements to either one of these officers?
Wayne Bent: I remember talking to them after I was arrested.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok.
Wayne Bent: It was a very tense time and I just don’t remember the things said now. But I remember going there and it was before they took me to the jail.
Tomas Benevidez: And do you remember saying, "One night, yeah, I did the same thing with her. Then she... one night she came, I was already in bed, she came in and she wanted to climb into bed with me and let me hold her. She said God had sent her. And I said, 'Well I'd like you to ask your folks first because you’re so young and that’s what I did with her?'"
Ms. Montoya: Objection. Her... who? Your Honor, this is really unfair.
Judge Baca: Sustained.
Tomas Benevidez: Do you ever recall giving a statement to either of these officers, agent Martinez or agent Williams that... whether you were clothed in bed when you laid with A.S.?
Wayne Bent: No, I don’t remember that.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok. Do you ever remember giving a statement that you were fully clothed or not when you were laying on the bed with L.S.?
Ms. Montoya: Objection, your Honor.
Judge Baca: What is your objection?
Ms. Montoya: Mr. Bent has already stated on the record that he does not recall the substance of the conversation at the interrogation.
Judge Baca: Well, I think the prosecutor has the opportunity, and I think it’s appropriate for him to ask and inquire about these different areas. He might recall some areas, but not others. So, I think it’s appropriate at this point in time. The objection is overruled. You may answer the question.
Wayne Bent: Ok. Could you please go back to the question before this.
Tomas Benevidez: No, that’s alright. Do you remember stating that the only reason that you were undressed with L.S. is that "I wasn’t fully dressed with L.S. I was in bed?"
Wayne Bent: No, but I could have said that.
Tomas Benevidez: On that night were you dressed when L.S. was there?
Wayne Bent: When she came into the room?
Tomas Benevidez: Yes.
Wayne Bent: I was in bed. It was a hot summer night and I just had my white under-shorts on in the bed and that’s all I had on when she came.
Tomas Benevidez: Do you recall saying you were in the buff without anything on?
Wayne Bent: No, I don’t recall that.
Tomas Benevidez: Do you recall whether you allowed her to come into your bedroom?
Wayne Bent: Yes, I did allow her to come in.
Tomas Benevidez: You never told her, "You can’t..." you know... "not come into my bedroom and get undressed?"
Wayne Bent: I, uh... I really stay away from telling people what to do. I’m not their director. I’m not their dictator. I’m not their controller. And when L.S. came to me that way... I’ve known L.S. since she was a baby and I’ve always taught the children, "Follow your heart. Do what God tells you. Don’t follow me." And so, coming against her like that would be impossible for me to do, because it would be against my fundamental religious beliefs for people to follow God according to their own conscience. And I would have betrayed her saying, "Your God doesn’t matter to me," cause she told me that God told her to come. I couldn’t say, "Your God means nothing to me. Get out of my house. This is stupid." I couldn’t approach her that way, because my fundamental teachings through all the years is, "Follow your heart. You have a light in you, everybody does and follow that light." And so, when she came, right away I was faced with her, the core religious beliefs of our church.
Tomas Benevidez: It didn’t...? You didn’t have a concern that...? You know how old she was at that time?
Wayne Bent: She was about 15, almost 15.
Tomas Benevidez: Almost 15, she was 14.
Wayne Bent: 14 and 11 months.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok. And you didn’t have a concern that a young girl wanting to come into your bedroom in the middle of the night and unclothe herself, there wasn’t anything in your mind that went off and said, "Well, this is wrong?"
Wayne Bent: Oh, no. I didn’t have any thought that it was wrong. My thought was that, "This could be troubling..." and here I am.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok. And then she took her clothes off in front of you, is that correct? L.S.
Wayne Bent: It was in the dark
Tomas Benevidez: Ok.
Wayne Bent: The room was dark and... she... she asked if she could and I permitted her to do that.
Tomas Benevidez: And where were you when she took her clothes off?
Wayne Bent: In bed. I was in bed.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok. And then she got into the bed with you. Is that correct?
Wayne Bent: Yes, that’s correct.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok. And did you talk to her?
Wayne Bent: Yes, I did.
Tomas Benevidez: What did you tell her?
Wayne Bent: Well, we just visited. She shared her heart, things that were on her heart and what God was revealing to her.
Tomas Benevidez: Did she have any clothes on?
Wayne Bent: No.
Tomas Benevidez: She didn’t have socks, underwear or anything on?
Wayne Bent: No. No.
Tomas Benevidez: Did you put...? You said you put your hand on her sternum, when she laid next to you. Right?
Wayne Bent: Yes.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok. Show me how you put your hand on her sternum.
Wayne Bent: Well there were a couple of incidents there in that meeting. And as I recall we just laid there she laid separate from me for awhile and I laid separate from her and then … uhm.
Tomas Benevidez: Mr. Bent, the question I asked you.. And, your Honor, if he can respond to the question.
Judge Baca: Please restate the question.
Wayne Bent: I think I’m getting to the answer.
Tomas Benevidez: What I asked is … I asked, if you put your hand on her sternum?
Wayne Bent: Yes, that’s where I’m going.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok.
Wayne Bent: But, I wanted to give you a picture of what happened.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok.
Wayne Bent: Then, I uhm... she was on my left side, cause she got in the bed last. And I turned on my side and I put my hand on her sternum.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok.
Wayne Bent: And we visited that way and that was pretty much common for me to do.
Tomas Benevidez: Can you stand up and show the jury how you put your hand on her sternum.
Wayne Bent: Yes.
(Bent stands up)
In L.S.'s case, it was straight up and down like this. If I put my hand on the sternum of somebody clothed, I’m not always so careful where I put my hand. But in her case, I was being exceptionally careful, not to enter into any kind of sexuality with her.
Tomas Benevidez: Did you kiss her?
Wayne Bent: I don’t remember if I had, but I often kiss people, so it wouldn’t have been...
Tomas Benevidez: Were you under the covers?
Wayne Bent: Yes.
Tomas Benevidez: Or..?
Wayne Bent: Yes.
Tomas Benevidez: Fully under the covers? Up to your neck?
Wayne Bent: No.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok.
Wayne Bent: She would have seen... what she would have seen, probably, if I was.. maybe not quite as much as if I had been in a bathing suit on the beach, but she never saw the lower part of me.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok, but you heard her testimony that you were fully unclothed?
Wayne Bent: Yes. And there’s a possibility...
Tomas Benevidez: Thank you.
Wayne Bent: Ok.
Tomas Benevidez: Did you guys lay skin to skin?
Wayne Bent: Well, you’re using a term that’s...
Tomas Benevidez: Did you lay where your...?
Wayne Bent: Where I was laying skin up against her skin?
Tomas Benevidez: That’s correct.
Wayne Bent: There was a space in between us.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok. Did you at any time hug her?
Wayne Bent: I put my hand around her neck.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok.
Wayne Bent: While I had my hand on her sternum and I gave her some support.
Tomas Benevidez: Did you ever...? You heard her testify that you put her, she also put her, you put your head on her sternum?
Wayne Bent: No.
Tomas Benevidez: And her stomach and your stomach... your chest was on her stomach. You heard her say that right?
Wayne Bent: I thought she said rib cage or something below her breast.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok.
Wayne Bent: I would agree.
Tomas Benevidez: You did that?
Wayne Bent: Yes.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok.
Wayne Bent: And you asked her, or someone asked her, where my arms were.
Tomas Benevidez: Where were your arms?
Wayne Bent: My arms were... I was supporting my weight on my elbows.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok.
Wayne Bent: And that’s where my arms were.
Tomas Benevidez: How long were you with her? With L.S.?
Wayne Bent: I don’t remember. It could have been a half an hour. It might have been longer.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok.
Wayne Bent: I don’t... that was a couple of years ago, two and a half years ago, I guess it was. I don’t remember some of the things about it.
Tomas Benevidez: You helped her get dressed?
Wayne Bent: No.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok.
Wayne Bent: No. When she was ready to go, she got dressed herself and left and I just went back to sleep.
Tomas Benevidez: Do you remember saying that you affectionately kissed her?
Wayne Bent: Saying what sir?
Tomas Benevidez: That you kissed her.
Wayne Bent: Saying it to who?
Tomas Benevidez: To L.S. Do you ever remember telling officer Martinez or officer Williams that you kissed her?
Wayne Bent: No. I don’t remember that. That meeting is kinda vague to me now.
Tomas Benevidez: Do you ever remember saying what constitutes a marriage in your religion?
Wayne Bent: Yes. You mean in the church?
Tomas Benevidez: Yes.
Ms. Montoya: Objection
Judge Baca: What is your objection?
Ms. Montoya: Beyond the scope.
Judge Baca: What is your response?
Tomas Benevidez: Pardon, your Honor?
Judge Baca: What is the response?
Tomas Benevidez: The response is, it’s leading up to whether or not he believes he’s married to L.S.
Judge Baca: Let’s ask that question.
Tomas Benevidez: Do you believe that you are married to L.S.?
Wayne Bent: Oh, definitely so, but it’s spiritual. We have the same spirit and that’s marriage and I’m married to the whole land that way.
Tomas Benevidez: Do you ever remember saying that clothing tends to be a barrier or an inhibitor?
Wayne Bent: No. I don’t.
Tomas Benevidez: Now what happened with... you also... A.S. came over to your house right?
Wayne Bent: Yes sir, on August 2nd.
Tomas Benevidez: Let me go back. L.S. came over to your house late at night, wasn’t that correct?
Wayne Bent: Yes. It was 11 o’clock, I think.
Tomas Benevidez: Wow, and you were already in bed?
Wayne Bent: Yes.
Tomas Benevidez: And you didn’t think that was strange at all?
Wayne Bent: To be in bed at 11?
Tomas Benevidez: No, for a young lady to come over at 11 and want to get naked in your bedroom?
Wayne Bent: Well it’s definitely... it’s definitely out of the ordinary.
Tomas Benevidez: Now, A.S. came over at what time?
Wayne Bent: I don’t know. I think it was in the afternoon sometime.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok. And you opened the door for both of them right?
Wayne Bent: Both of them?
Tomas Benevidez: Both A.S. and L.S., when they asked to come in you opened the door and had them come in?
Wayne Bent: No. L.S. opened the door herself and came in my bedroom.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok.
Wayne Bent: A.S., I opened the door for.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok.
Wayne Bent: It was daytime and she knocked. L.S. didn’t knock.
Tomas Benevidez: Did you know why she was there?
Wayne Bent: A.S.?
Tomas Benevidez: Yes.
Wayne Bent: No.
Tomas Benevidez: But, she told you why she was there right?
Wayne Bent: Yes.
Tomas Benevidez: She wanted to lie naked with you?
Wayne Bent: Yes.
Tomas Benevidez: And then you took her into the living room?
Wayne Bent: We were in the living room, sitting in two of the chairs in the front room.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok. And then she asked to lie naked with you?
Wayne Bent: Yes.
Tomas Benevidez: So you asked her to go in the bedroom and unclothe?
Wayne Bent: Well... something happened before then. Can I say what it was?
Tomas Benevidez: Sure.
Wayne Bent: Ok... As she sat in the chair, she was talking about having a great desire to lay naked on my bed with me there. But, I sensed that she was uncomfortable with it. And I think she may even have told me she was uncomfortable with it. And I said, "There certainly is nobody requiring this of you. Why are you asking this of me?" And she said, "God told me to do this and I must." And I said, "But, you’re not comfortable with this." And, I tried to discourage her a couple of times. And then I felt, "Well, I’ve got to be true to her." And so I... I told her what would precipitate what she asked me for and that’s that she could go into the bedroom. I closed the doors so that she could get undressed and lay on the bed. And then I came in a few minutes later. I uh came around the bed and laid next to her. I was fully clothed and I put my hand on her sternum then and then we visited.
Tomas Benevidez: Did you ever remember kissing her?
Wayne Bent: No, I don’t, but it is something I certainly could have done. It’s not against what I do.
Tomas Benevidez: You heard A.S.’s testimony. Do you think she is lying?
Wayne Bent: Well, A.S. said...
Judge Baca: Let me stop. That’s not an appropriate question.
Tomas Benevidez: I’ll withdraw the question. Would A.S. have any reason...? You heard her testimony correct?
Wayne Bent: Yes.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok. And do you agree with it?
Wayne Bent: I think it is basically true.
Tomas Benevidez: She said that you kissed her on the lips. Is that true?
Wayne Bent: I don’t remember that, but it could be true. It’s something I would do.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok. She also said that you kissed her on her breast. Here.
Wayne Bent: No, she, in an earlier interview, she it was pointed out the clavicle area. It was, I never touched any fleshy part of the breast.
Tomas Benevidez: In her earlier interview with you?
Wayne Bent: No, no. It was with my attorney.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok, now, when your attorney asks A.S about that, she asked A.S., if she was ever touched where she says the Pledge of Allegiance and A.S. said, she "never said the Pledge of Allegiance before" and she also said "Yes."
Ms. Montoya: Objection.
Judge Baca: Let him finish his question.
Tomas Benevidez: The hand is from here to the lower part of the breast and so...
Wayne Bent: Sir.
Judge Baca: Don’t ask a question let him finish.
Tomas Benevidez: So, when she put her hand there, there was the whole gambit of space between the sternum and the upper portion of the breast.
Judge Baca: So what is the question?
Tomas Benevidez: So the question is... Where did you, where do you remember kissing her?
Judge Baca: Don’t answer. What is your objection?
Ms. Montoya: Mr. Benevidez mischaracterizes the substance of the interview.
Judge Baca: The interview or the question here in court?
Ms. Montoya: The interview upon which his question is based. He’s misquoting her.
Sidebar
Judge Baca: The objection is sustained. You may continue.
Tomas Benevidez: Thank you your Honor. Mr. Bent, when A.S. made that statement, Ms. Montoya asked her "Did he touch you where you say the Pledge of Allegiance?" And A.S. said, "Yes." And her hand was from the top of the breast up to the sternum and my question to you is... You saw her did where and you answered, you don’t remember. Is that correct?
Wayne Bent: I am very certain, because I paid close attention that I never touched any fatty area of the breast area, or any other part that could be construed sexually. I am certain of it. When I heard, you asked me about A.S. testimony, what I heard in there was a little girl that didn’t remember too much about it. And when you asked her, or someone asked her, about kissing two, three times, she said, Well, maybe yes." She just didn’t remember.
Tomas Benevidez: Like you don’t remember either.
Wayne Bent: I remember that because I have a covenant. I pay close attention with both L.S. and A.S. not to get anywhere near that. And that I can say for certain, certainty.
Tomas Benevidez: You also touched her her tummy didn’t you?
Wayne Bent: I may have laid my hand on her stomach, yes.
Tomas Benevidez: Did L.S. ask for sex?
Wayne Bent: She asked to be skin to skin with me uhm and that’s all she asked for then.
Tomas Benevidez: Isn’t it true you sent out an email that you needed seven virgins?
Wayne Bent: No sir.
Tomas Benevidez: Isn’t it true you had a meeting with nine virgins?
Wayne Bent: Yes. A boy and eight girls as far as I recall.
Tomas Benevidez: And from those, you selected seven?
Wayne Bent: No, I didn’t select anyone.
Tomas Benevidez: They selected themselves... Is what you are saying?
Wayne Bent: Yes, the thing about that was.. the... Are we going to go into an in depth study of the seven virgins?
Tomas Benevidez: No.
Wayne Bent: Ok.
Tomas Benevidez: Are you a doctor?
Wayne Bent: No, I’m not a doctor. No. I’m not a licensed physician.
Tomas Benevidez: You’re not a licensed physician?
Wayne Bent: Yes.
Tomas Benevidez: Are you a minister?
Wayne Bent: Yes.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok, are you currently a Seventh Day Adventist Minister?
Wayne Bent: No, I resigned that.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok, are you a minister of The Church of Our Lord of Righteousness?
Wayne Bent: The Lord Our Righteousness? Yes. All of the members are.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok. Are you the one that told all the members that about the seven virgins and Revelations?
Wayne Bent: I think so.
Tomas Benevidez: Are you the one that told about the messengers or the seven maids in Daniel?
Wayne Bent: I’m not familiar with the seven maids of Daniel.
Tomas Benevidez: The seven brides?
Wayne Bent: I’m not familiar with that.
Tomas Benevidez: Well, tell us about Daniel. What significance does that have to Revelations?
Ms. Montoya: Objection.
Judge Baca: What’s your objection?
Ms. Montoya: Irrelevant.
Judge Baca: What’s the relevance of that question?
Tomas Benevidez: I’ll withdraw the question. You also remember making statements to the Grand Jury?
Wayne Bent: I remember being in the Grand Jury. If the statements were read to me, I may recall them.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok, do you remember telling everyone that you were the Son of God?
Wayne Bent: Uhm... Mr. Gallegos asked me if I was and I said, "Yes." And that everyone is the Son of God who has him in them.
Tomas Benevidez: Do you remember telling him that you’re the Messiah?
Wayne Bent: No, I don’t recall that, but I would have because Messiah is simply the word that is translated from anointed. When a minister of the gospel says he’s anointed to preach the gospel, he’s actually saying he’s messiahed to preach the gospel. It’s exactly the same word, identical. So, everyone with an anointing from God is messiahed... so to speak. And that’s how that term is used and that’s what is meant by it and I explained it to the Grand Jury also.
Tomas Benevidez: And, have you been anointed by God?
Wayne Bent: Oh, yes.
Tomas Benevidez: For what reason?
Wayne Bent: For what happened and for this court and for what happened in the land. I was anointed to do those things other people are anointed for other things.
Tomas Benevidez: But they weren’t anointed for the same things you have done?
Wayne Bent: No. No one is.
Tomas Benevidez: Are there any other elders of the church beside you?
Wayne Bent: Well, I think we all are.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok. At one time though were there other ministers in the church?
Wayne Bent: Yeah.
Tomas Benevidez: What happened to them?
Wayne Bent: Well, we...
Ms. Montoya: Objection.
Judge Baca: Yes, what is your objection?
Ms. Montoya: Relevance.
Tomas Benevidez: Your Honor, may we approach?
Judge Baca: Certainly.
Sidebar
Judge Baca: The objection is overruled.
Tomas Benevidez: Mr. Bent did you pay $15,000.00 to each of the other three ministers to leave?
Wayne Bent: No sir. What is the basis of this question? How is it related?
Tomas Benevidez: You’ve answered it, thank you.
Judge Baca: Mr. Bent you answered the question, thank you.
Wayne Bent: Ok.
Tomas Benevidez: Do you believe you have the power to heal?
Wayne Bent: Yes.
Tomas Benevidez: Did you ask either of the girl's... did you ask the girl’s parents permission to lay naked or to have them come in and undress in your room?
Wayne Bent: Not undress, but I asked L.S. to ask her parents before she came into my house to do that.
Tomas Benevidez: And did she tell you that her parents did not agree?
Wayne Bent: She told me that her dad trusted me.
Tomas Benevidez: Do you remember talking to the BBC and having an interview with Ben Anthony?
Ms. Montoya: Objection.
Judge Baca: Do you wish to approach?
Ms. Montoya: I’m sorry.
Judge Baca: Why don’t you approach.
Sidebar
Tomas Benevidez: Do you remember that interview?
Wayne Bent: I don’t remember a single interview with BBC. But I remember Ben Anthony came to our land and... we invited him in and we shared with him everything that happened there, up to that time.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok. What do you remember sharing with him?
Wayne Bent: Well, we probably gave him about a hundred hours of interviews.
Tomas Benevidez: Let me refresh your memory. Do you remember him asking you a question of, "Why did they want to lie naked on the bed with you, Michael?"
Wayne Bent: No, I don’t remember that question.
Tomas Benevidez: Do you remember...? So you wouldn’t remember your answer?
Wayne Bent: I could tell you, if I would say the answer if you read it to me.
Tomas Benevidez: We can show you the video.
Judge Baca: Alright, let me excuse the jury at this point in time, there’s some issues that we need to take up. All rise for the jury.
The Jury leaves. They discuss the video. The judge recesses the Court for 5 minutes.
Judge Baca: Alright, you may continue.
Tomas Benevidez: Thank you your Honor. Mr. Bent, isn’t it true that you’ve said that to get closer to God you have to lie naked?
Wayne Bent: In a spiritual sense.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok, well, if it was in spiritual sense, why did you allow L.S. and A.S. to unclothe?
Wayne Bent: It’s because that’s what they requested of me.
Tomas Benevidez: Ok, thank you. And you say that... isn’t it true that you said that you’re like a physician?
Wayne Bent: In a spiritual sense, yes.
Tomas Benevidez: And isn’t it true that... in a spiritual sense then you were like a physician at that time with L.S. and A.S.?
Wayne Bent: Yes.
Tomas Benevidez: And you allowed him to get naked?
Wayne Bent: Yes.
Tomas Benevidez: Mr. Bent, you also said here that you’re very careful, but in your prior statements you never told us that before, that you were very careful with these girls not to touch their private parts.
Ms. Montoya: Objection.
Judge Baca: What is your objection?
Ms. Montoya: Mr. Benevidez is referring to prior statements and there’s only been one interview.
Judge Baca: Alright, what statements are you referring to?
Tomas Benevidez: Your Honor, I am referring to the statements that he made with Ben Anthony. I’m referring to the statements he made with when he spoke with agents Martinez and I believe it's Williams and also the statement he made to the Grand Jury.
Judge Baca: Alright.
Ms. Montoya: May we approach?
Judge Baca: Yes.
Sidebar
Judge Baca: You may proceed.
Tomas Benevidez: Mr. Bent, in prior statements that you’ve talked to either agents or you’ve given testimony to the Grand Jury, you’ve never said that you were very careful about not touching either of the girls, either A.S. or L.S.’s private parts. Why today are you saying you’re being careful?
Wayne Bent: Sir, you are uninformed. I have made that statement numerous times.
Tomas Benevidez: And you’re saying that in both of these occasions these were ceremonies, religious ceremonies?
Wayne Bent: What I said was, according to our religious faith I was required to answer their request. Call it a ceremony or whatever you call it, but I was just following their request of me.
Tomas Benevidez: But you didn’t do this in a church did you?
Wayne Bent: No, it was in my house.
Tomas Benevidez: And you didn’t have other people in the room with you did you?
Wayne Bent: No.
Tomas Benevidez: No more questions.
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