Massachusetts teacher charged after police sting operation, accused of trying to meet girl for ‘sex acts’

A Salem teacher has been charged following a police sting operation after he allegedly tried to meet up with an underage girl for “sex acts.”

Gym and health teacher Darren Benedick, 42, was apparently unaware that the person he was communicating with online was not a 14-year-old girl, but rather an undercover Newbury cop who had been monitoring a “teens-only” chat room.

The teacher at Salem Academy Charter School was arrested by Newbury Police, with help from Salem Police. He was charged with one count of child enticement and one count of dissemination of matter harmful to minors.

“At this time, authorities have no allegations that any students at the school were subject to the defendant’s alleged misconduct,” the Essex DA’s Office said in a statement.

Benedick was arraigned in Newburyport District Court on Wednesday following the sting operation.

“The defendant is alleged to have engaged in online conversations with the undercover officer expressing a desire to meet in person and engage in sexual activities, to have sent an obscene image to the officer, and to have described the sex acts that he wished to perform,” the Essex DA’s Office said.

Benedick made plans to meet the person on Wednesday, and he was taken into custody when he arrived for the intended encounter.

Prosecutors at the arraignment requested cash bail of $50,000 with GPS monitoring, home confinement, and no contact with children. The court set bail at $5,000 and granted the non-monetary terms, including the no contact with children order.

The Essex DA and the police chiefs in Salem and Newbury “advise parents and guardians to engage youth in age-appropriate discussions about proper online and social media behavior, and to encourage them to speak up if they encounter inappropriate contact from an adult.”