Former LFHS Staffer Faces Possible 218 Years in Jail

A Former Lake Forest High School theater manager arrested June 7 for sexual misconduct with two minor students faces a possible 218 years in prison after he was indicted Wednesday on 18 counts of sex related crimes by a Lake County Grand Jury.

Benjamin Davidson, 30 of North Chicago was indicted on 10 counts of criminal sexual abuse, three counts of child pornography, both Class 1 Felonies, two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a Class 2 Felony, and three counts of grooming, a Class 4 Felony.

If Davidson is convicted of all 18 offenses and sentenced to serve them one after the other, he could go to jail for a minimum of 61 and a maximum of 218 years.

Davidson is accused of engaging in 10 separate acts of oral sex with a minor female, recording some of those acts and other sexual related offenses.

Currently free on bond, Davidson will be arraigned at 9 a.m. August 1 in Lake County Criminal Court in Waukegan.

Davidson managed the audio visual services of the Lake Forest High School drama department supervising a staff of student volunteers. In that capacity, he “engaged in an inappropriate and illegal relationship of a sexual nature with two female students under the age of eighteen, while in a position of authority over those students,” according to a June 7 news release from the Lake Forest Police Department.

School officials received a complaint in late March from the parent of a student, began an investigation and reported the incident to the Lake Forest Police, according to the release. Davidson, employed by the school since 2008, resigned when told of the complaint.

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