Jimmy Bennett, 22, who has accused Asia Argento of sexual assault refuses to talk to cops

Former child actor Jimmy Bennett, who has publicly accused Asia Argento of sexually assaulting him when he was 17 years old, has gone to ground without ever reporting the alleged crime to the police in Los Angeles as he promised to do months ago.

As TMZ first reported Monday morning, the 22-year-old Bennett has been laying low since late September, when he traveled to Rome for a live taping of an Italian talk show, during which he was mocked for claiming to have been forced into a sexual intercourse by Argento, then aged 37.

Officers with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office have reportedly made several attempts to contact Bennett about the incident, but to no avail. 

 

Asia Argento

Laying low: Jimmy Bennett (left), 22, reportedly has not been taking calls from the LA County Sheriff’s Office and has not filed a police report against Asia Argento (right) concerning their 2013 sexual encounter

Although Bennett has not spoken publicly since September, he has remained active on social media, including posting this selfie on December 14 

Although Bennett has not spoken publicly since September, he has remained active on social media, including posting this selfie on December 14 

In November, Bennett, 22, shared on Instagram a photo of himself enjoying a bagel

In November, Bennett, 22, shared on Instagram a photo of himself enjoying a bagel

Yet Bennett has continued posting messages on social media, most recently on December 14, when he shared a selfie showing himself looking disheveled while enjoying a massive breakfast of bacon, eggs and waffles.  

Although in early September Bennett signaled his intention to file a sexual assault report against Argento and cooperate with the investigation, he has yet to follow through on his promise. 

Argento, who has emerged as a vocal participant in the #MeToo movement after accusing Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of sexually assaulting her, has alleged that she was the real victim and ‘froze’ when Bennett ‘jumped’ on her.

In April, Argento agreed to pay Bennett a $380,000 settlement, which the actress’ then-boyfriend, celebrity chef and TV host Anthony Bourdain, financed before taking his own life.      

Argento played Bennett's mother in the 2004 movie The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things (pictured) 

Argento played Bennett’s mother in the 2004 movie The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things (pictured) 

The pair reconnected in 2013, when Bennett was 17 years old and Argento was 37 

The pair reconnected in 2013, when Bennett was 17 years old and Argento was 37 

Argento played Bennett’s mother in the 2004 movie The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things. 

The two reconnected in 2013, when the Italian actress reached out to Bennett about a film project and invited him to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Marina Del Ray, California, for a meeting. 

During his appearance on the popular Italian program Non e l’Arena in late September, Bennett, accompanied by his lawyer told the host that he showed up at the hotel thinking there would be a film audition.

Instead, he claimed Argento offered him champagne, started passionately kissing him, then unbuckled his pants and pushed him onto the bed, where the two ended up having a sexual intercourse. 

The host of the show questioned the idea that Argento, as a woman, could rape a young, healthy, 17-year-old man, and sought to poke holes in Bennett’s narrative by asking him whether he climaxed during the encounter, which the interviewee said he did. 

Bennett was ridiculed over his claims on Italian TV in late September

Argento appeared on the same show a week later and claimed Bennett 'jumped' her

Bennett was ridiculed over his claims on Italian TV in late September (left). Argento (right) appeared on the same show a week later and claimed Bennett ‘jumped’ her

In April, Argento agreed to pay Bennett a $380,000 settlement, which the actress' then-boyfriend, celebrity chef and TV host Anthony Bourdain, financed 

In April, Argento agreed to pay Bennett a $380,000 settlement, which the actress’ then-boyfriend, celebrity chef and TV host Anthony Bourdain, financed 

A week after the bombshell interview, Argento, 43, appeared on the Italian talk show and offered a completely different version of events, claiming that she ‘froze’ when Bennett began to kiss her and touch her ‘in a way that was not that of a child with his mother, but that of a boy with crazy hormones.’ 

‘He literally jumped on me; he put me sideways across the bed. He did what he had to do. He didn’t use a condom. It lasted for two minutes. He had an orgasm.

‘I was cold, unable to move. Shocked, I asked him afterwards why he had done this, and he told me that I had been his sexual fantasy since he was 12 years old.’

She also compared the incident to her encounter with Weinstein.

‘I had not even defended myself in the meeting with Weinstein. I think it’s because of some childhood trauma.’

The revelation in August that Argento had sex with Bennett and then agreed to pay him $380,000 four years later after he threatened to go public with the story hit the actress and the #MeToo movement like a bomb.

Argento initially denied they had had sex. But when texts leaked two days later that showed her saying ‘He jumped me’, Argento said through an attorney that she was the victim, not Bennett.   

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk