Woman given probation for statutory sexual seduction

A 33-year-old woman was given a suspended sentence of one year in Carson City Jail for statutory sexual seduction in Carson City District Court Monday. Jacqueline Benzler, 33, had sexual relations with a 13-year-old male neighbor in 2012. She turned herself into police in March 2015 on the warrant for her arrest.

The judge decided to grant no jail time for Benzler, stating that though her evaluations showed she wasn’t a sexual predator nor was at risk for reoffending, the impact to the victim was too great to just grant probation.

She will be on probation for up to three years and has to register as a sex offender, and if Benzler doesn’t break any laws in the probation period, she will not have to serve the year in jail.

In Justice Court Friday, Jacob Houser, 22, had his preliminary hearing where he waived his hearing in anticipation of pleading guilty in District Court. Houser is accused of having sexual relations with up to five juvenile females, with the youngest being 12 years old. The incidents occurred between December 2014 and May 2015. Detectives discovered the sexual assaults after one victim came forward and through interviews it was determined and confirmed Houser had relations with at least four other girls. It’s believed he found his first victim through social media.

Houser was extradited from California July 8, and has been in the Carson City jail since.

Houser is expected to be charged with one count of statutory sexual seduction, lewdness with a child under 14, sexual assault with a child under 14 and other sexual charges which hold possibilities of life sentences. The charges from all five cases are getting consolidated into two cases; one with the charges against two victims and one with the charges against three victims.

Attorneys expect to settle the matters in court instead of going to trial.

Houser’s arraignment is scheduled for Monday.

This story has been corrected for it’s original version.