Harold Bennett

WARREN — A 72-year-old Wethersfield man will be placed on five years of supervision and house arrest for viewing child porn.

Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Andrew D. Logan handed down the sentence after taking into consideration the declining health of Harold Bennett, who regularly appeared in court in a wheelchair and carrying an oxygen tank.

Bennett will be placed on 180 days of house arrest with electronic monitoring and is only permitted to have medical visits. He will also be labeled a tier 2 sex offender which requires him to register for 25 years.

Bennett pleaded in December to seven counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor.

Prosecutors say Bennett had viewed images of newborns and children under the age of 2.

Assistant Prosecutor Gabe Wildman in previous hearings remarked, “I’ve been doing these cases for almost 15 years,” Wildman said. “I’ve never seen a defendant with such an interest in 1-year-olds, 2-year-olds and newborns as the indictment expresses in this case — just the nature of and the ages of the children.”