Former inmate files civil suit in harassment case

Thursday, Nov. 8, 2001 | 10:39 a.m.

A former Clark County detention inmate filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Wednesday against a former corrections officer who is awaiting trial on charges that he had sex with her while she was an inmate.

The lawsuit alleges former corrections officer Mark Bennish, who has since been fired, sexually harassed and assaulted the 22-year-old inmate in May 2000 while she was awaiting trial in the jail.

The suit also names Metro Police and Sheriff Jerry Keller as defendants.

Sgt. Chris Darcy of Metro Police public affairs said the department is not allowed to comment on pending lawsuits.

Bennish also faces three counts of voluntary sexual conduct with a prisoner, two involving the woman who filed the civil rights lawsuit, and one involving another woman. He is scheduled to go to trial Nov. 26.

The woman's attorney, Lori Teicher, said Bennish allegedly groped her client's breast and tried to force her to perform a sex act.

The lawsuit also claims that Bennish had engaged in "systemic and continuous course of sexual harassment and assault of female deputy public defenders and a Justice of the Peace at the Clark County courthouse."

The lawsuit claims that Keller waited too long in firing Bennish, who Teicher said was a sexual and safety risk to female inmates.

Herb Sachs, Bennish's attorney, said this morning the allegations are false and the civil lawsuit is an attempt "to get money from the county and my client."