Trial underway for former Gilman School teacher

The trial of 40-year-old Christopher Bendann got underway in earnest Friday. The former Gilman School history teacher is facing nine counts, including sexual extortion of a minor, child pornography and cyberstalking. The government opened by painting the Bendann as a predator. He was the minor victim’s 8th grade history teacher and advisor at Gilman, and he used that position of trust to groom, sexually abuse, secretly record, and later extort the boy even after he left for college, prosecutors told the jury.