Army Recruiter Molested Youth He Enlisted, Police Say

A U.S. Army recruiter has been arrested on suspicion of sexually molesting a 17-year-old high school boy whom he recruited, authorities said Friday.

Arthur Benjamin, 22, of Laguna Niguel was arrested Thursday while on duty at his Tustin-based recruiting office, Santa Ana police Sgt. Raul Luna said.

On Monday, a 17-year-old student at Century High School in Santa Ana told school authorities that he rebuffed several advances Benjamin had made, Luna said.

School authorities contacted police, who worked with the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division and found that a second 17-year-old boy recruited by Benjamin also had complained about him.

The second teen, now stationed at Fort Jackson in South Carolina, told authorities Benjamin had solicited sex from him within the last three months, Luna said.

Luna said Benjamin has visited the Century High campus at least twice a week a week since arriving in California from Fort Jackson in March.

Lucy Araujo-Cook, a spokeswoman for the Santa Ana Unified School District, said district officials will review a policy that allows recruiters on campus. “It would be very early to say there might be a change in school policy, but we’ll be looking at it very closely,” Araujo-Cook said. “However, our students show their faith in school personnel when they come forward, and we do not take it lightly.”

Benjamin, who has no known criminal history, was booked on one count of oral copulation with a minor and one count of attempted oral copulation with a minor, Luna said. He is being held at Santa Ana Jail on $50,000 bail.