Former Gilman School teacher Chris Bendann expected to testify in his sexual abuse trial

A former Gilman School teacher on trial for sexually abusing a teenager is expected to testify in his own defense, one of his attorneys said in court Tuesday.

The suspect, 40-year-old Christopher K. Bendann, was expected to testify late Tuesday afternoon.

He faces federal charges of sexual exploitation of a minor, possession of child pornography and cyberstalking. Prosecutors say Bendann began sexually abusing a Gilman student when the boy was 15 or 16 and continued for years, sometimes taking photos and videos of their encounters.

The boy, now 23, testified last week that Bendann threatened to release sensitive photos if he didn’t maintain contact with Bendann, even after the man graduated from Gilman and went to college.

One of Bendann’s defense attorneys, Gary Proctor, said early Tuesday afternoon that he expects Bendann to testify “that he had an ongoing sexual relationship” with the man “when they were both adults.” The defense team has indicated since the beginning of the trial that they would argue the man lied about the nature of the relationship when his girlfriend found his text messages with Bendann in 2022.

“Mr. Bendann should be able to tell his story to the jury,” Proctor said.

The jurors left the room for lunch while U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar discussed legal issues with the attorneys.

The defense cannot argue that sexual activity before the man turned 18 was consensual, Bredar said, but Bendann can discuss his relationship with the man on the stand. In sex crimes cases, evidence of a victim’s prior sexual activity or predispositions is generally not allowed.

Prosecutors are expected to rest their case Tuesday afternoon. On Monday, authorities played several sexually explicit videos of the teen that an FBI expert on digital forensics said were taken before he turned 18. The videos’ metadata identifies the date they were taken, as well as their location and other information.

The first video, which according to the metadata was taken when the man was 16 years old, showed him naked from the waist down, masturbating in the passenger seat of Bendann’s vehicle.

The man told the jury that Bendann picked him up from parties or took him to McDonald’s when he was a teenager and eventually began suggesting that the boy take off his clothes or touch himself. Bendann also began touching the boy, according to testimony, and also abused him in showers at the homes of other Gilman families where Bendann sometimes house-sat.

Bendann taught at the private boys’ school in North Baltimore until early last year, when he was fired after reports that he had given students alcohol and taken them for “naked runs” in a park. Two young men testified Tuesday that they remembered participating in the naked runs, which they said were Bendann’s suggestion.

The young men, who also went to Gilman with the man at the center of the case, said Bendann also sometimes asked them “suggestive” questions via Snapchat during the evening, such as whether they were wearing a shirt or pants.

“I tried to avoid it a little bit,” one testified. “I always thought it was a little weird.”

The other testified that Bendann once tried to “wrestle” with him after he got out of the shower wearing only a towel. When the teen said no, Bendann grabbed the towel and pulled on it, nearly tearing it in half, the testimony said. Bendann, who was a house-sitter for the teen’s family, was lying on the boy’s bed when he got out of the shower, the young man testified.

The defense has portrayed the Gilman community as exclusive and unfriendly to gay men like Bendann.

Bendann previously said he wanted to skip parts of his trial. His refusal to leave the Chesapeake Detention Facility in Baltimore delayed jury selection by several hours last week. He has been present for every day of the trial so far.