North Texas personal trainer charged with invasive recording in bath or dressing room
Flower Mound personal fitness trainer John Benton, 41, has been accused of invasive video recording in a bathroom or dressing room by the Denton County District Attorney’s Office.
The initial offense report was filed by the Flower Mound Police Department in August 2020, but police Capt. Shane Jennings said Benton would not cooperate with their inquiries and investigators only interacted with his attorney.
Jennings said a single victim came forward at the time of the initial report. The case was referred to the Denton County District Attorney’s Office, who investigated and obtained an arrest warrant, he said. Benton turned himself in Wednesday, and was booked and released on $20,000 bond, jail records show.
Denton County court records show he was indicted Sept. 20 on one count of invasive visual recording in a bath or dressing room, which is a felony charge.
Benton founded John Benton Model Fitness, which specializes in hip and waist reduction workouts. On Thursday, the company posted a statement on Instagram saying that Benton was stepping away from the business effective immediately in light of the allegations.
“We take this matter very seriously, and we are immediately pausing all classes and consultations until we determine how to best continue to serve our clients,” John Benton Model Fitness wrote in its post.
In addition to modeling agencies, Benton has also worked with the Miss Dallas Pageant and Miss Dallas Teen Pageants. On Thursday, the Miss Dallas Pageant posted on Facebook that the pageant was terminating its relationship with him effective immediately.
This story was originally published October 1, 2021 at 1:26 PM.
