Gerald R Bendig - The Rolls Royce of Pedophiles - Life in Prison

In total, Bendig was convicted
of molesting 19 children — raping four of them

• Gerald R Bendig, 52, was first convicted of raping a child in Bristol Township in 1973.

• Then again in 1976.

• A third child-rape conviction in Lower Bucks followed in 1981, prompting a judge to sentence Bendig to the maximum of 20 years.

• It wasn’t enough. Bendig maxed out that sentence in 2001, left prison and moved to Norristown, Montgomery County. In 2006, he raped a 10-year-old boy from an immigrant family.

A pedophile once known in Bucks County as the “Rolls Royce” of sex offenders was sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday for raping four children over the last 35 years.

Gerald R Bendig, 52, was first convicted of raping a child in Bristol Township in 1973. Then again in 1976. A third child-rape conviction in Lower Bucks followed in 1981, prompting a judge to sentence Bendig to the maximum of 20 years.

It wasn’t enough. Bendig maxed out that sentence in 2001, left prison and moved to Norristown, Montgomery County. In 2006, he raped a 10-year-old boy from an immigrant family.

Bendig was found guilty of that crime in May. And on Wednesday, Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill said Bendig’s four child-rape convictions were more than adequate for meeting the requirements of Pennsylvania’s “threestrike” law, which allows for life sentences for repeat violent offenders.

“This is the only way to protect the public’s safety,” O’Neill said.

In total, Bendig was convicted of molesting 19 children — raping four of them — in Bucks and Montgomery counties. In Bucks, his 18 known victims lived in Bensalem, Bristol, Bristol Township, Middletown and Upper Southampton.

Barbara Lynn Ashcroft, who was prosecuting her last case for the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, said after the hearing that the system failed with Bendig. She said the case sheds light on a loophole in state law regarding sex offenders who’ve maxed out their sentences and whose crimes predate Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law, which is meant to monitor sex offenders.

Because Bendig served the full sentence for his 1981 crime, he was not on parole and, therefore, under no government supervision. And because Bendig’s crimes in Bucks predated Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law, the state’s Sexual Offender’s Assessment Board wasn’t called on to determine whether Bendig was a sexually violent predator. If it had been, Bendig’s neighbors in Norristown would have been notified that they were living next to a sexually violent predator.

After his conviction this past summer, the board determined that Bendig was indeed a sexually violent predator.

“Clearly, there was nothing to protect the victim,” O’Neill said during the sentencing.

Bendig grew up and lived in Bristol Township until he was 25, when he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

After serving his time, Bendig ended up in Norristown on the 1000 block of DeKalb Street. His name, photo and specific address were posted on Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law Web site, www.pameganslaw.com. But Bendig’s neighbors weren’t notified.

In 2006, Bendig watched a 10-year-old boy playing basketball from his window. He called over the boy to show him his extensive video game collection and then raped him. Bendig then told the boy that he had a gun, and he would kill the boy if he told anyone. The assaults continued for two months until the family contacted police.

The case was a near repeat of Bendig’s 1981 rape in the Croydon section of Bristol Township. Back then Bendig had lured a 14-year-old into his home with an electronic football game. He assaulted the boy at the youth’s home, in Bendig’s car and during blood drives for the American Red Cross unit where Bendig was a volunteer. The boy’s father eventually caught Bendig assaulting his son.

In 2001, Bendig told a Bucks County judge he was rehabilitated during a hearing to get out of prison. He said he received treatment in jail and even got a doctorate in behavioral psychology.

On Wednesday, when he was allowed to speak, Bendig didn’t mention being rehabilitated. He didn’t accept responsibility, either.

His brown hair, shaved during previous court appearances, touched his shoulders. He wore oval-rimmed glasses and had a graying mustache.

And he had a bunch of reasons why he shouldn’t be jailed. At first, he said his public defender, Alice Dietrich, wasn’t competent. The judge disagreed. Bendig then said he was being charged with rape in Norristown because of a “common scheme” by a neighbor who wanted Bendig’s apartment. Bendig said he spent much of his time in prison leading discussion groups for adults who were molested as children.

“I’ve written seven pamphlets and had three books published by Survivors of Incest Anonymous [which doesn’t publish authors’ names],” he said. “Everything I’ve done in the past has helped me not be involved with children.”

The Courier Times was unsuccessful in reaching Survivors of Incest Anonymous for comment. The organization is based in Maryland, according to its Web site.

Despite his lack of his faith in her as an attorney, Dietrich argued to the judge that Bendig shouldn’t be sentenced to life in prison because her client was in poor health with diabetes. She said he was sexually assaulted most of his life, beginning at age 8 by a male relative by marriage.

The judge said that Bendig’s life was a “sad tragedy,” and that the man who initially molested Bendig as a child is also a perpetrator in Bendig’s crimes.

But the judge said the only way to protect the public was to send Bendig away for life.

“Who knows,” the judge said. “There are probably countless victims.”