OREGON CITY, Ore. Former Gladstone police Sgt. Lynn Benton is accused of covering up sex abuse of her co-defendant in a complex murder-for-hire case, a new tort claim obtained by KGW Friday shows.
The victim, who was 15 years old at the time of the alleged abuse, said she was subjected to repeated sexual contact from her neighbor, 33-year-old Jason Jaynes (pictured left).
The claim shows in 1999, the victim said she reported the abuse to Sgt. Lynn Benton (pictured right), who later became Jaynes co-defendant in the murder-for-hire of Debbie Lee Higbee-Benton.
The victim says after the interview with Sgt. Benton, the case was never referred to the District Attorney or up the chain to other City of Gladstone authorities for prosecution or further investigation, the claim states.
Jaynes was arrested in November 2012 in the murder of Higbee-Benton, who was found dead in her salon in 2011. Last Friday, he was indicted on almost 20 new charges of child sex abuse stemming from crimes he allegedly committed in the Gladstone area between 1998 and 2001.
Jaynes' mother, Susan Campbell (pictured center), already pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and testified against Lynn Benton. Campbell said Lynn Benton hired her to murder Higbee-Benton.
Jaynes remains in jail while his trial proceeds in the Higbee-Benton case.
Detectives from the Oregon City Police department believe there may be more victims related to the most recent child sex charges, which police have not linked to his pending murder charges.
Anyone with information about any of the crimes was asked to call police at 1-888-780-5678.
