Jury takes less than 30 minutes to convict a West Virginia man, 26, of incest with his three-year-old daughter after he claimed on the stand he mistook her for his wife in bed

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Henry Vincent Bennett, 26, was found guilty of abusing his young daughter on Thursday

A jury in West Virginia has taken less than 30 minutes to convict a man of incest with his three-year-old daughter, after he repeated his confession that he mistook the child for his 24-year-old wife.

The brief trial of Henry Vincent Bennett, 26, began on Wednesday in Bluefield and ended on Thursday with his conviction on two counts each of first-degree sexual assault, sexual abuse by a parent, and incest.

The sickening case took a dramatic twist when Bennett, who had claimed police pressured him into a false confession, slipped up on the witness stand and repeated his confession in front of the jury.

'It's a TV moment. It's a thing that happens on crime shows like Perry Mason,' prosecutor George Sitler told WVVA after the trial. 

'You wait your whole career to get somebody to actually confess to what they're accused of on the stand, and this is the first time I've ever seen it happen,' the prosecutor added.

Bennett is seen with his wife April and daughter. He told police that he mistook the girl for his wife on two occasions, one involving oral sex and another involving a sex toy

Bennett was first arrested in February, after his daughter told family members and then state child safety workers that she had been sexually abused.

The young girl at one point made a model of a penis out of Play-Doh and said it was Bennett's 'butt', and said that her father had put his 'butt on her butt', testified Cindy Lambert, a child advocacy worker.

When police first brought Bennett in for questioning, he denied sexually assaulting the three-year-old girl.

Eventually, Bennett confessed to sexually assaulting the girl on two occasions: once involving a sex toy, and once involving oral sex.  

Bennett told police that both incidents were accidents, after the child crawled into the bed while his wife was away in the bathroom. He claimed he mistook the 30-pound girl for his 185-pound wife both times.

In the first instance he said he he 'accidentally' placed a sex toy in the child's buttocks. 

The second time, he said his wife was performing oral sex on him, and then got up to go to the bathroom. He claimed the girl came into the room and began performing oral sex on him before he realized she was not his wife. 

Both Bennett and his wife, 24-year-old April Bennett, were arrested. April was originally charged as an accessory to Bennett's crimes, but later took a deal pleading guilty to a charge of child neglect.

Bennett and his wife April were both arrested in February, after the girl told family members and social workers horrible allegations of sexual abuse at her father's hands

Videos of Bennett's confession were played before the jury at trial. His lawyer argued that his diminished mental capacity made him susceptible to police pressure tactics, and that the confession was false.

During the trial, Bennett took the stand in his own defense. He said that his confession had been coerced by police, who promised him he could go home if he just confessed, the Bluefield Daily Telegraph reported.

Bennett testified that he had been in special education, dropped out of school in ninth grade and twice failed to earn a GED. 

Under cross-examination by the prosecutor Sitler, Bennett repeatedly denied that his confession to police was true.

'You thought making up a story would give you can chance to go home?' Sitler asked, handing Bennett a box of tissues to wipe away his tears. 'Why did you do it?' 

'Because I was scared,' Bennett replied. 

Sitler then pointed to a table in the courtroom full of sex toys, and reminded Bennett he had told police which one he'd used on the young girl.

At trial, Bennett was tearful under cross examination. The prosecutor handed him a box of tissues, and then tripped the defendant up, getting him to confess to the crime

The prosecutor then grilled Bennett on how he possibly could have mistaken the tiny girl for his wife.

'I was laying on my back... I thought it was April, and when I rolled over (the girl) yelled,' Bennett said, apparently repeating his confession before the jury in a moment that stunned the courtroom.

'You told Officer Fox after that incident happened, you regretted that,' Sitler said.

'I regretted saying that…I regretted talking to him, yes,' Bennett stated.

The jury was sent into deliberation at 11.35am on Thursday. The returned a verdict just before noon: guilty on all counts. 

April Bennett is free on bail and scheduled to be sentenced next month. She faces a sentence of one to five years in prison.

Henry Bennett is being held in the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver. 

He is tentatively scheduled to be sentenced on March 26. If sentenced consecutively, he could face 80 to 270 years behind bars.