Jerry Lewis relives stalking experience in speech to lawmakers

Kiley Russell

Thursday, March 11, 1999 | 5:16 a.m.

CARSON CITY, Nev. -- Comedian Jerry Lewis appeared before the Nevada Assembly Thursday to help rally support for tougher anti-stalking laws he says would help others avoid the nightmare his family has endured for years.

Lewis, in a speech to state lawmakers, cracked a few jokes before reliving the "fear, the horror, the terror" of being stalked.

"Stalking is not unlike Alzheimer's or cancer," he said. "You never know how long you've got."

The longtime entertainer was the target of a stalker who pleaded guilty in 1995 to a felony charge of aggravated stalking after allegedly threatening to kill both Lewis and his 7-year-old daughter.

The stalker, Gary Benson of Las Vegas, once showed up at Lewis' house and office with a gun, Lewis said.

"Stalking has turned my life and my 7-year-old's life upside down and inside out," he said.

Lewis said he expects Benson to resume his stalking after his release from prison.

"I have spent $180,000 in a six-week period keeping my daughter safe. Sending her to school... with security. My home looked like Beirut. We had SWAT teams... we had helicopters, we had the FBI and Metro (police)."

The full Assembly convened a special session just to hear Lewis' testimony on AB363, a bill to increase the maximum penalty for aggravated stalking from 6 to 15 years.

Lewis said the 15-year penalty is not enough to deter would-be stalkers and asked the bill's author, Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, to increase it to 25 years.

Benson was sentenced 1995 and given a maximum six-year sentence. He has spent most of that time in and out of mental hospitals, Veterans Administration psychiatric clinics and the county jail.

Lewis said any legislation stiffening penalties for stalkers should include specific protection for victim's family members.

"Do we wait 'till my daughter is dead? I plead with you as passionately and as unashamed as I can, please make 363 happen at a 25-year maximum," Lewis said.

He added, jokingly, "If you do this, I'll find out where you live, I'll come over, I'll do 20 minutes... I'll do anything you want."

Even if the bill passes, however, it won't help Lewis' case because the new penalty would only apply after Oct. 1, 1999.