DNA shows abuse suspect fathered child

DNA tests show that Perry Bennington, who is charged with more than 7,500 counts of rape and sodomy, is the father of a 9-month-old girl buried since 1984, a detective said today. .

The tests showed a 99.99 percent probability that Bennington fathered the child with a female relative he is charged with abusing when she was between the ages of 6 and 22, said Bullitt County Sheriff’s Detective Scott McGaha said.

Bennington pleaded not guilty to the charges last month.

McGaha said he testified about the results before a Bullitt County grand jury, which he said he expects will indict Bennington next week.

Bennington’s lawyer, public defender Rebecca Murrell, could not be reached for comment. She had previously declined to comment.The victim, now 38, gave birth to a child believed to be Bennington’s when she was 16. That baby died nine months later.

The baby’s body was exhumed in April from Highland Memory Gardens in Mount Washington and DNA samples were extracted from the baby’s hair and bones.

The sample from the baby was tested along with DNA from the mother and Bennington.

McGaha said he was excited by the results, although he said they confirmed what he had strongly suspected all along.

Bennington, who is being held on $1 million bail in the Bullitt County Detention Center, also is charged with 15 counts of rape of another woman when she was a girl.