A Harbor Hills man has been sentenced to time in prison after molesting an underage girl at his home.
Benjamin Yarish, 48, was sentenced last week in Lake County Court to 13 months in state prison. He was given credit for 203 days served in the Lake County Jail. He pleaded no contest to a charge of lewd and lascivious battery. He will also be on sex offender probation for nine years upon his release.
Yarish, who at the time of his arrest owned and operated Central Florida Gun and Tactical in Leesburg, molested the girl while she was a guest in his home at the gated community in Lady Lake.
The girl told investigators she was at Yarish’s home on July 18, 2020 when a woman who had accompanied her to the home “passed out” in the living room. The woman had been dating Yarish for about nine months. The girl went to sleep in a bedroom at the home.
The girl was in bed when Yarish entered the room and began rubbing her back, according to an arrest affidavit. Yarish began “fondling the juvenile victim’s breasts and kissing her lips and breasts.”
Yarish, who stands more than six feet tall and weighs 240 pounds, climbed on top of the girl, who was 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 95 pounds. He began to have sex with the girl, who told investigators it was the “first time she has had any kind of sexual experience.” She said she asked Yarish to stop “multiple times,” but he continued. She said it felt like the intercourse lasted “forever.” She was bleeding and in pain when it ended. She later feared she might be pregnant.
Yarish allegedly told the woman who had accompanied the girl he could “set them up for life” if they “made this all go away,” the affidavit said. He also boasted he had connections in the sheriff’s office.
He was arrested Aug. 12, 2020 and was released on $25,000 bond. At the time of his release, he was ordered to have no contact with the girl. However, he landed back behind bars after he ignored the judge’s order and contacted the girl.