Farmingdale Man Sentenced In Attempted Kidnapping-Sexual Contact Spree

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Farmingdale man has been sentenced to prison in a series of incidents in March 2024 where he tried to kidnap a teenage girl and sexually assaulted a woman in a string of events in Lakewood and Toms River, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Friday.

Quamel J. Benton, 36, was sentenced Friday by Superior Court Judge Kenneth T. Palmer to seven years for attempted kidnapping, five years each on two counts of eluding, and 18 months for criminal sexual contact, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

The attempted kidnapping sentence is subject to the No Early Release Act, meaning Benton must serve 85 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

In addition, the sentences for attempted kidnapping charge and one of the eluding charges will run concurrently., Billhimer said. The sentences for the second eluding charge and for criminal sexual contact will run consecutively, the prosecutor's office said.

Benton pleaded guilty to the criminal charges on Oct. 21. On Friday, he pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated and Palmer imposed mandatory fines and penalties and suspended Benton’s driving privileges for the DWI charge.

Benton, whose mailing address is in Farmingdale, admitted to the incidents that happened in Lakewood and Toms River on March 21 and 22, starting with his attempt to pull a teenage girl in Lakewood into his vehicle about 7:30 p.m. on March 21.

The girl was able to break away from Benton and escape the kidnapping attempt on Forest Park Circle in Lakewood, Billhimer said. As she ran home, the driver — later identified as Benton — drove off in a smaller-model white SUV, authorities said.

About 9 p.m., as police were searching for the SUV and driver, Toms River police answered a report of a woman being sexually assaulted in the parking lot at Target, Billhimer said. The woman told police a man approached her and grabbed her "in an inappropriate manner" then took off. Toms River police were able to identify the suspect and followed him as he fled from the Target parking lot.

Benton took off at high speed and got on the Garden State Parkway northbound, and the pursuit was terminated because he was driving erratically, Billhimer said.

Police were able to get his license plate number and learned Benton, who was believed to be driving the SUV, also was a person of interest in an aggravated assault in Willingboro that had happened earlier in the day, Billhimer said.

At about 12:40 a.m. Friday, Toms River police were called after a man tried to get into a vehicle occupied by a woman, and the officers were able to identify Benton as the man trying to get into the vehicle, he said.

Benton tried to take off again but as Toms River police pursued him, Benton lost control and crashed into a utility pole at Whitesville Road and Route 70. He got out of the SUV and tried to run but Toms River officers chased him down and caught him, Billhimer said.

Benton still has charges pending in Willingboro in an incident earlier on March 21 where Burlington County authorities say he attacked a woman with a baseball bat in the home they shared, leaving her with a severe head wound, authorities said.

The investigation revealed that after beating the woman, Benton took off in her vehicle, leaving young children alone in the home, authorities said.

Benton is charged in Burlington County with attempted murder, aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon, endangering an injured victim and five counts of neglecting a child, authorities said.

The Asbury Park Press reported the woman was his girlfriend and she was pregnant at the time of the attack. The report said he used an aluminum bat to hit her, and it was Benton's 14-year-old son, the oldest of five children, who called 911 to report the attack.

Benton's attorney said Benton believes he was drugged and said the incidents were "out of character," that report said.

Benton has been held in the Burlington County Jail since his arrest in March.