LI Physician Assistant Sexually Abused Girl, 16, At Beach: DA

CORAM, NY — A Long Island man has been indicted on charges in connection with a scheme that prosecutors say he used his job as a physician assistant to gain the trust of a teenage girl and then sexually abused her at a local beach, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney's office said Friday.

Richard Bennett, 50, contacted the victim, who was 16 years old at the time, in April of 2020 through her foster mother, under the guise that he wanted to give her a birthday present, and she was given his message and phone number and told to call him, Tierney's office said, citing court filings.

Bennett met with the teen shortly afterward, in May 2020, by picking her up and driving her to a beach in Suffolk where the acts allegedly took place, Tierney's office said. It happened during the same time period that Bennett already had an open case pending in District Court for a May 21, 2020, arrest for third-degree sex abuse, endangering the welfare of a child, and associated charges, all misdemeanors, involving a different teenage girl, according to Tierney's office.

As previously reported by Patch in 2020, Suffolk police Special Victim Section detectives arrested Bennett for having inappropriate sexual contact with a patient while he was employed at Family Medical Care in Bay Shore, police said.

He then gave her money in an attempt to prevent her from reporting the crime, police said at the time.

Bennett had been released on his own recognizance on May 22, 2020, Tierney's office said.

Bennett has been charged with four counts of third-degree criminal sexual act and one count of endangering the welfare of a child.

Tierney said Bennett used his position to gain the trust of the victim "for his own sexual gratification."

“We will do everything in our power to protect victims and hold those who prey on them to account,” he added.

Judge Karen Wilutis ordered Bennett be placed on supervised release with a Global-positioning system device pending his next court date on March 28.

His attorney, Peter Brill of Hauppauge, was not immediately available for comment.

The DA's Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Bureau, which is prosecuting the case, is asking anyone who may have been victimized by Bennett to contact the Suffolk County Police Department’s Special Victims Section at 631-852-6361.