Fifty-two-year-old Gerald Bendig has had four such convictions, dating back 35 years. County Judge Steven O'Neill says that more than meets the requirements of the state's "three-strikes" law.
Bendig was convicted in May of the 2006 rape of a 10-year-old boy from an immigrant family. Five years earlier, he finished serving a maximum 20-year sentence on a 1981 chid-rape conviction in Bucks County.
In court Wednesday, Bendig questioned the motives for his prosecution, and the competence of his public defender, Alice Dietrich. Dietrich argued that Bendig was a child sexual assault victim, and noted that he has diabetes.
The judge says Bendig's case is indeed a tragedy, but the public needs to be protected.
Information from: Bucks County Courier Times, http://www.phillyburbs.com
