He served his sentence. I don't see the conflict of interest.

I happen to be very good friends with the mother of the child he killed. She is still, and will always mourn the loss of her son. Also, he cashed in the life insurance policy of his deceased son, purchased a brand new Ford Mustang and a new computer, but never provided his DECEASED SON A HEADSTONE. Just like the politics we have seen in the past, people talk the talk, but cannot walk the walk. She was also featured on The Oprah Winfrey show some years back with her story of her son and what happened if anyone is interested in Googleing past shows.

So sure, his sentence may be over, but he (the baby) will alway be remembered and will be mourned.

I too am a friend of the mother of Paul Bennet's deceased son. He may have served his prison term, but he has violated the order of the court not to be around young children, he has not placed a headstone on the grave of his son. He was a liar and appears to still be one. If he was truely into making the public aware of the dangers of sken baby - it would have been part of his campaign and he would have been honest and forthwright.

Aaron does have a headstone.

Anyone have a URL for the Oprah show?

This is directed to the 2 supposed friends of Bennett's ex-wife. I am sorry for her loss. She has suffered a great deal. But to be fair and honest, I have to correct a couple of errors above.

The first error is about what was done with the insurance money. A new Mustang was not purchased. They had traded in their sedan for a Jeep Cherokee. Paul put a headstone on the site in 1999 and I know that he maintains the site with flowers and other items.

Paul also appeared on Oprah with his ex-wife. At the time, they were working toward reunifying. She was visiting him while he was serving time. They were in counseling together for about 18 months.

Finally, one should really check their fact before posting something so hurtful. Paul's judge never ever put a restriction on children with him. The prosecution asked for such a condition, but the judge said it wasn't necessary because he was confident that this would never happen again with Paul.

Paul is truly remorseful for what happened with his son and the pain he caused his ex-wife. Not only did he speak on Oprah, but he also attended and spoke at a conference about Shaken Baby Syndrome. What happened was terrible, but let the man be. He simply wanted to serve his community.

It's obvious that both Bennett and his ex have friends, so I will post this as an outsider. If Bennett truly did have a restriction with children, how come the court and state have allowed him to stay with his 2-year old? If this were a problem, the authorities would have intervened by now.
What happened nearly 15 years ago had to be hard on both parties. I do feel sorry for his ex wife, she suffered a great loss. But from what I've read and seen so far, it looks like Bennett has and is dealing with his own pain. It's time for all of us to look in ourselves and ask what right do I have to keep beathing this man up? He's served his time, has become a productive member of society and cares enough to get involved. Just because someone made a terrible mistake does not ban than from human race. It's time for everyone to move on.
Thank you to the people who stood up for Bennett. Also, I think the people who stood up for his ex should be thanked as well. It's obvious people care about her too.

Does anyone know why Paul Bennett didn't volunteer the information of his conviction as part of his campaign? He seemed to be a good marketer and ran a good campaign with uniquely shaped signs, usually set off from the rest, and a website together-responsibly.com With so many people coming to his side now, including the sentiment shown above, and a town selectmen during the Nov 6 public meeting stating she would pray for him and hoping that the sensationalism over this news would stop, it seems he would have had enough support to win the election anyway.

What about the child he has in Connecticut with his ex. Why does he only say he's a father of a 2 year old girl. He is hiding everything from his past...trying to portray himself as a "prince charming".

Anyone from Paul's inner circle who knew of his past and the fact that he was running for public office and did not strongly advise him to come forward with this before it became a fiasco has failed him. He clearly was not thinking clearly so I ask....Why didn't his friends and/or family advise him to stay out of the public eye or come clean early in the process of running for office?

How come nobody seems to care that one of the other candidates also has a record? How come only Bennett's matters? It seems that he cared more about serving the town. I just wonder why nobody is attacking the other candidate for not coming forward with his past. Maybe because his troubles were more recent? In any case, none of the news printed that he's had trouble on more than one occasion. I voted for Bennett, even after reading the Press Herald's report. What happened occurred 15 years ago and I voted for him because of his recent involvement in the town and simply because he wanted to serve his community. The man served his time. He seems remorseful for his actions. I don't see the reason for attacks he's still receiving.

Is the other candidate a convicted felon?

I was one of the first few who knew of Paul's past, as he began his new life with his wife. Her family has come to love Paul and treat him as one of their own, regardless of his past. What I am wondering, and have been since this post was started......why is everyone who is so opinionated and knowledgeable of the case too afraid to put their name up. Everyone on here is very vocal with a keyboard, but I wonder how many of you would be as "verbal" if you had to post your name or email address. Give him a break and use your voice to do some good and not hurt people.

Laurie, The discussion is about PAUL and their arguments are not irrelevant because of their anonymity.

Umm who hurt people? Oh yeah poor Paul. F* that dead kid.

Robert, The people who do not have true facts are the ones who hurt people. "That dead kid" has a name, and it is Aaron. And yes..Oh, poor Paul...he made a mistake, did his time, I am sure if a background check had been done, and he was asked, he wouldn't have lied. Everyone has a right to their opinion, but, telling lies.... Aaron has a headstone and Paul also has a pregnent wife and child that people seem to forget about. Have a little heart and stop running him into the ground. He stepped down and did what he thought was best for not only the town, but more importantly, his family. Leave him alone!! The so called friends of his ex-wife, seem to have all the facts....none seem to be correct...however, they are either anonymus, because they are not sure if what they are saying is truthful or because they are just sitting around with nothing to do and seem to like to keep stuff going and hurting people!

All the sympathizers defend him but won't say a single word of sympathy for his child. Do a google search, look at the postings, not a single word. Not on his website, not in the blogs, nowhere ...

Yes....It would be nice to see a posting from some of these opinionated people that reads..

"We are thinking of his pregnant wife and child, and hoping that they are doing well through all of this, considering the hurtful things that have benn said about Paul."

Anyone who has children, must know that they can sense when things aren't right and when people around them are sad or stressed. So have a little sympathy and think before you speak such hurtful things. If you have children, then you must have at one point been pregnent or had a wife that was pregnant...and you should know how stress can affect an unborn child. We are not talking rocket science here....a little common sense and compassion!! Or have we run out of that??

Enough already!!! Stop talking about Paul's past for his family's sake.

Yes, because silence is the best whitewash. Good luck with that.

What we have here is a guy who used very bad judgment in determining what he could keep from the voters. I feel for his wife and child who have done nothing wrong but will undoubtedly suffer due to Mr. Bennett's very poor judgement. The residents of Topsham are better off without someone like that making decisions for them. He made this bed....he needs to lie in it and I suspect he will for years to come.

Karma is a wonderful thing.

Yes. The other candidate pleaded no contest to a charge of criminal trespass in 2006. I found some of that in the Times Record and Press Herald. And I cannot be 100% certain, but I think his driver's license is permanently suspended. And what about the other town official who had 2 arrests in one weekend for violating a protection order? Whatever happened there? But I'll be 100% honest with you, it doesn't matter.

I'm not sure what the poster wanted with sympathy. I did read in an article that Bennett said he lives with the pain of his son's death every day. It is sad that Aaron passed. It is sad that a family was destroyed. I can't imagine what his ex wife has dealt with, but hopefully she's done some healing herself. Jesus taught forgiveness and it is time for people to find it within themselves to forgive. I'm sure Bennett has asked his ex wife and family for forgiveness for what happened to Aaron. And on his site, he's asked the town for their forgiveness. What more can be done?

Laurie, I want to give you credit for speaking up, stating Aaron's name and speaking your opinion. I'm afraid that some of the ears (eyes) it is falling on are never going to see past their own noses and feel that they are right. These are the same type of people who burned witches back in the day. You will never get through to them. All you are doing is giving them more reason to open their pie hole and spit out the crap that they are full of.

And you know Karma guy/gal, what comes around does go around and your lack of compassion may bring the same back to you.

So the other guy wasn't a felon.

Keep your religion to yourself.