Stalker's probation revoked

Jerry Lewis walked out of court Monday praising the justice system after District Judge Michael Douglas' judgment to revoke the probation of Gary Benson, a Las Vegas man who was accused of stalking the entertainer.

"Thank God, our justice system works," Lewis said.

Benson, 54, was sentenced on May 15, 1995, to six years in prison on one count of aggravated stalking. That sentence later was suspended and Benson was placed on probation for five years with the stipulation that he stay away from Lewis and continue to attend counseling sessions.

Benson moved from Las Vegas to California, Arizona and most recently Utah in order to get treatment and counseling for chronic schizophrenia, but he always found a way out of the programs, Douglas said.

"He has shown an inability to conform to the requirements of outpatient treatment," Douglas said. "The outpatient route just doesn't get it and it is the court's belief that there is not an inpatient facility that will accept him."

Benson's latest probation violation occurred when he stopped going to treatment sessions at the John Tyler Center in Salt Lake City. At the same time that Benson was not getting treatment or meeting with his probation officer, Lewis claimed he received a threatening phone call.

"It was an anonymous caller who said and I quote, 'Gary Benson is out and he knows where you and your daughter are,' " Lewis said in court on July 26.

Benson, who came before the court for his initial arraignment on April 5, 1994, told the court that he was sorry and that his heart went out to Lewis, but prosecutor Abbi Silver said it was something the court has heard before.

"I don't dispute that he is a mentally disturbed individual, but he is also a manipulator of the system," Silver said. "He violates his probation and then says he's sorry. He is not amiable to probation and has violated it."

Benson has already served 1,151 days, which will be credited toward his jail time.

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