A Gillette teen who pleaded guilty to trying to seduce multiple children was sentenced last week to eight to 10 years in prison, with a five-year probation term to follow.
Corbin Behnke, 19, received two days of credit for time in jail he’s already served against the eight- to 10-year prison sentence Campbell County District Court Judge Michael McGrady handed down Dec. 31. That term is the penalty for four counts of solicitation to exploit children sexually.
For a fifth charge to which Behnke had also pleaded guilty weeks prior, McGrady sentenced the teen to a five-year stretch of probation, with numerous and rigorous requirements, like not consuming alcohol, having no contact with the victims, submitting to searches and drug tests, staying employed, staying in the county and others.
If Behnke fails probation, he could be sent to prison for an additional five to eight years, says a sentencing order McGrady filed Wednesday.
Behnke will also be required to register as a sex offender.
This Loving Community
Family members and friends of Behnke’s submitted numerous letters to the judge ahead of his sentencing, vouching for his character.
Behnke had been bullied in school, and one classmate even broke his hand, according to a letter from his grandfather.
Social media influenced the teen’s choices and he “strayed from reality,” the letter added.
Other letters urged the judge to give him a “second chance,” and to punish him but also consider how it would affect his future.
One of Behnke’s friends said she was concerned about the allegations against him, and she didn’t believe he was a sexual threat to the community.
“He is a reliable and responsible young man who has been the subject of a bad situation,” the letter says. “I wholeheartedly feel he is innocent of the harsh accusations against him.”
Alleged Victim Takes Action
Court documents tell a different part of the story.
A 15-year-old Gillette boy who went to Behnke’s school grew so weary of the older teen’s advances that he made a Snapchat of an 11-year-old as a decoy to catch him, says an evidentiary affidavit filed in the case.
Behnke would linger around the 15-year-old’s classes and stare at him, send him repeated sexual advances and requests for lewd photos on Snapchat. He’d add the boy with new Snapchat accounts when the boy would block him, and ask him for a ride home repeatedly despite the boy’s refusals, the affidavit says.
On the weekend of Dec. 2, 2023, the boy and another teen his age created a fake Snapchat account displaying a photo of a random 11-year-old boy they found on Google, the document says.
Behnke contacted the account.
The decoy told Behnke he was 11, but Behnke started asking for photos of his genitalia anyway, says the affidavit.
The teens showed the exchange to their school counselor three days later, which prompted a response from Campbell County Sheriff’s Investigator Heather Monson.
Monson went to Behnke’s home that evening and asked if she could go through his phone. He said yes, the document says.
The affidavit says investigators later found a photo of a dog licking Behnke’s genitalia. However, Behnke did not ultimately plead guilty to the bestiality charge pertaining to that reported discovery; that charge was dismissed after Behnke agreed to plead guilty to the solicitation charges.
‘Uh, I’m 12!’
A 14-year-old girl also spoke with Monson, saying she blocked Behnke after he sent her a lewd photo and kept asking her to “send nudes,” the affidavit says.
Monson talked with other minors she found via witnesses or Behnke’s phone.
One boy, age 14, had been contacted by Behnke via Snapchat, the document says. Monson interviewed him by phone since he lives in another city.
The teen said Behnke asked for a lewd photo of him, so he blocked Behnke. The boy was 13 at the time, which he said Behnke knew.
The affidavit also says Behnke sent Snapchat messages to a 12-year-old boy on Nov. 21, 2023. He asked if the boy was straight, the document adds.
The boy said he wasn’t sure yet.
Behnke asked the boy to send “dic pics,” the affidavit says.
“Uh, I’m 12!!” answered the boy, according to the document, which says Behnke’s response was to send pictures of himself in his underwear.
More Boys
Behnke is reported to have had a more reciprocal conversation with a 16-year-old male Nov. 26, 2023, when the pair shared a lewd exchange.
The affidavit says Behnke also exchanged 75 messages with a boy who looked about 12 to Monson, but who said he was about 14 and lived in the Philippines.
The boy sent lewd photographs and one solo sex video, the document says.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
