Lewis asks: ‘Do we wait until my daughter is dead?’

Friday, March 12, 1999 | 11:39 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Comedian Jerry Lewis spoke to the Nevada Assembly on Thursday about an issue that isn't funny -- stalking.

The famous actor and comedian told the representatives about the nine years of terror he suffered at the hands of Gary Benson, a chronic schizophrenic who was convicted of stalking him in 1995.

Lewis asked the Legislature to raise the maximum penalty for stalking from six years to 25 years, at one point raising the dramatic question: "Do we wait until my daughter is dead?"

Although Benson was convicted of aggravated stalking in 1995 and given the maximum of six years, he has spent most of it in mental-health facilities, Veteran's Affairs outpatient clinics, group homes and the Clark County jail. Benson, because of time off for good behavior and other factors, will max out his sentence in August and be set free.

Lewis acknowledged that raising the penalty for stalking will not keep Benson behind bars any longer. But it would address future cases.

"This is one of the most important bills that could pass this body," Lewis said.

"I say this because stalking is not unlike Alzheimer's, ALS, cancer. Stalking is no different. It doesn't let you know when. You never know how long you have got. Stalking has turned my life and my 7-year-old's life upside down and inside out ... because there is a wacko out there."

Benson began stalking Lewis in 1989 after Lewis gave his housekeeper, to whom Benson was engaged, a copy of Benson's police record. The housekeeper later married and divorced Benson.

"He told me on the phone that he was going to kill me and my daughter," Lewis said.

"I brought out a psychiatrist from Louisville, Kentucky -- one of the eminent men in the field of wackos," Lewis told the Assembly. "He told me, 'Jerry, after reading for three hours on this stalker, I'm telling you now if they let him out, he is coming to kill you and your daughter.' "

Lewis is perhaps best known for his Labor Day weekend telethon, which raises money for muscular dystrophy research.

"For years, I have been helping humanity because I think it is something that should be done," Lewis said. "Where is my payback? I don't do it to get a payback. I do it out of the love in my heart for children in trouble. But now I'm in trouble, and (he) is threatening my 7-year-old daughter.

"What is this? Why is John F. Kennedy killed -- this good man? Why is Bobby Kennedy killed -- this good man? Why is Martin Luther King killed -- this good man? Well, Jerry Lewis raises $1.6 billion to help children and adults with neuromuscular disease -- let's kill him. This state of Nevada has a maximum penalty of six years for stalking. It must be 25 years. Do we wait until my daughter is dead?"

Mixed in with the serious message, Lewis tossed out his trademark humor. "I promise if you do this, I'll find out where you live and I'll do 20 minutes. You can sit around and have drinks at the house. I'll do obsequious drills -- I'll do anything you want," Lewis told the legislators.

Assemblyman Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, was among those listening to Lewis.

"I think Mr. Lewis uses the English language very effectively to communicate his message," Perkins, who is also a Henderson police captain, said. "Stalking is a problem. What he is experiencing is one of the more severe cases. Usually it involves two people who know each other. One person may want to end a relationship while another wants to keep hanging on."

Perkins, the majority floor leader for the Assembly, declined to predict whether Lewis's proposal will be adopted.

"Once it gets to committee, we'll have to look at how this punishment would compare to those of other crimes."