One day before the midterm elections in Texas, a Republican candidate for a city council seat was jailed. He stands accused of committing crimes against children following the alleged finding of a huge quantity of child pornography in his hands. The candidate’s party abandoned him after he was accused of wrongdoing, and he never recovered enough support to run for local office again.
The Hood County Sheriff’s Office received a report on November 6 at 2:04 p.m. that Bradley Jay Benson had been booked and was being detained on a $200,000 bail. Two counts of possession of underage material in excess of one hundred photographs or videos have resulted in first-degree felony accusations against him. Benson had been a candidate for Granbury City Council, Position 4. He and fellow conservative Charles Beard were defeated by Republican Gary “Skip” Overdier.
Benson is a deputy fire marshal, a company owner, and the general manager of Cinergy Cinemas, according to Fox 4 News. According to reports, the Granbury Volunteer Fire Department has begun looking into the possibility of his dismissal, and his future with the department will be decided by a disciplinary committee. He is currently barred from taking part in any of the organization’s events.
In his website bio, Benson calls himself a “genuine conservative,” despite the fact that he is open about being gay. He thinks it’s best to keep sensitive topics like sexuality out of the classroom and out of public spectacles. The unsuccessful candidate claims to be in a committed relationship of nearly ten years and to be a frequent attendee at Stonewater Church of Granbury, the original venue for which was his movie theater.
The sources or methods by which authorities discovered Benson’s suspected child pornography collection remain unknown. Since the inquiry is ongoing, details are sketchy at best.
