A convicted Orange County child molester was sentenced to prison for brutally attacking his wife.
Gary Blane Bentley, 65, of La Palma, was convicted on Sept. 18 of two felony counts of corporal battery on a spouse resulting in a traumatic condition. On Tuesday, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced he was sentenced to 25 years to life for the crimes.
On June 24, 2022, Bentley punched his wife repeatedly in the face and dragged her into a bedroom of their apartment before she was eventually able to break free.
The assault left the apartment covered in blood and the victim, who was bloodied and nearly nude, had run outside and frantically knocked on neighbors’ doors to ask for help.
“The attack culminated years of unreported domestic violence against the victim,” the DA’s Office said.
Bentley was later tracked down in Long Beach, where officers took him into custody. At the time, he was on parole after serving six years in prison for an indecent exposure conviction in Los Angeles County.
According to court documents, Bentley has a long history of prior convictions. In 1982, he was convicted of the attempted murder of his then-girlfriend and the maiming of her 5-year-old daughter. The young girl was left permanently blind in one eye. He served 11 years in state prison for the crimes.
In 1990, he was sentenced to 17 years in prison for the continual sexual assault of a child under the age of 14 in L.A. County.
In 2007, he was sentenced to 25 years to life for another sex-related offense, but that sentence was overturned in 2009. In 2011, he was sentenced to six years in prison for indecent exposure with a prior conviction.
“Gary Bentley and the reign of terror he has inflicted on women and children throughout his entire life is exactly why California’s Three Strikes Law exists,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. ”There are certain individuals who have inflicted so much pain and violence on other human beings that they cannot continue to live among civilized society. For decades, Gary Bentley has committed crime after crime with callousness, without remorse, and there has not been a single period of time when he has lived a law-abiding life. Society is safer as a result of the incredible advocacy of the La Palma Police Department and Deputy District Attorney Sharlene Mandella to ensure justice for the victim in this case and to prevent future women and children from becoming victimized.”
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