Saturday, May 4, 2024
The Hood County News received an anonymous tip the morning of Nov. 6 that Granbury City Council Candidate Brad Benson’s house was raided that day.
Benson is the General Manager and Partner of Cinergy Cinemas and a Granbury Volunteer Firefighter who lives in the 1200 Block of Mallard Way.
At around 6 a.m., approximately 30 to 40 cars were spotted at Benson’s residence.
Two of these vehicles were state troopers and five of the cars were white and unmarked. Only the state troopers were in uniform, and the other people were dressed in street clothes according to the tip.
Badges were clearly seen, and the officers were carrying guns, the tipster stated.
“You could tell that they were some kind of investigator. They had Brad in the back seat of an unmarked car and then he came out of it and was standing outside for a bit before they put him back in the unmarked car,” the tipster added.
The tipster noticed one of the people that came out Benson’s residence was holding a brown paper sack and gave it to one of the State Troopers.
The people at Benson’s residence were going in and out of his house, according to the tipster and they later searched his truck and truck bed.
After searching Benson’s truck, the tipster noticed that Benson was put into the back of a state trooper’s car before driving away with the rest of the cars following.
HCN Publisher Sam Houston reached out to the chairman of the Republican Party of Hood County Steve Biggers, to confirm a statement the group posted on social media.
“We have just learned that longtime community member, Deputy Fire Marshal, Lifetime Member of the Granbury Volunteer Fire Department, small businessman and City Council candidate Brad Benson was taken into custody by law enforcement this morning. Based on the limited information available, it is our understanding that a serious sex related offense may be involved. If these allegations are true, there is no such way the party would ever condone such activity.”
In addition, the HCN learned from the Hood County Sherrif Bond Report that Bradley Jay Benson was charged with two counts of felony first-degree child pornography possession on Nov. 6 at 2:04 p.m.
According to Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds, Benson's bond was set on Nov. 7 with both charges set at $100,000 each.
“There was no arrest warrant. It was an on-site arrest. We executed a search warrant at his house and then found child pornography and then arrested him at that point,” District Attorney Ryan Sinclair told the HCN on Nov. 8.
Benson bonded out the Hood County Jail on Nov. 8.
