Rape of Two Teens Alleged

A former Sag Harbor man who recently moved to the Oakview Highway trailer park in East Hampton was arrested Tuesday afternoon on three rape charges.

According to Adriana Noyola, the assistant district attorney who handled his arraignment yesterday in East Hampton Town Justice Court, Benjamin Lehman, 25, had sexual intercourse twice with a 16-year-old-girl, and with another 16-year-old as well. The three charges are Class E felonies, the lowest felony level.

One of the victims was said to be present in the courtroom. She apparently did not want Justice Steven Tekulsky to give her an order of protection, but he issued court orders on behalf of both teens, requiring that Mr. Lehman have no further contact with either. 

Ms. Noyola asked that bail be set at $50,000. Matt D’Amato, a Legal Aid Society lawyer, argued for a much lower amount, pointing out that the defendant had lived in Sag Harbor for many years before moving to East Hampton and was about to start a new job. Ms. Noyola countered that Mr. Lehman has at least two prior arrests, one on a felony charge of burglary in 2008 when he was 17, stemming from an incident at Pierson High School, and another earlier this year, on charges of menacing and endangering the welfare of a minor. The disposition of the two cases could not immediately be learned.

Justice Tekulsky set bail at $15,000. It was not met, and Mr. Lehman was remanded to the county jail in Riverside. He will be brought back to East Hampton Monday afternoon and released later that day, should the district attorney’s office fail to obtain a grand jury indictment on the charges. If a grand jury is convened, Mr. D’Amato asked that his client be allowed to testify.