What the attorney thinks - Christopher Bennette

In the summer of 2003, in the small Virginia town of Craigsville, an 18 year old boy shot and killed the man the town knew as a former rescue squad captain and a pillar of the community. Christopher Bennett never denied it. He confessed, took a plea deal to avoid the death penalty, and was handed three consecutive life sentences totalling 1,800 years.

But behind that front door, Chris and his siblings say, was a man the town never saw. Years of abuse. Children told to pray for help that never came. And a report of what was happening to his little sisters, made just one day before the shooting.

Over this series, Jack chats with Chris from inside Buckingham Correctional Center about his childhood, that night, the sentence designed to outlive him, and a family still fighting to bring him home.

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This series contains discussion of child sexual abuse, physical abuse and domestic violence. If you or someone you know needs support, help is available.

Australia

1800RESPECT (sexual assault and domestic violence, 24/7): 1800 737 732

Blue Knot Foundation (adult survivors of childhood trauma): 1300 657 380

Bravehearts (child sexual abuse support): 1800 272 831

Kids Helpline (ages 5 to 25, 24/7): 1800 55 1800

Lifeline (crisis support, 24/7): 13 11 14

United States