A Twentynine Palms Marine was arrested Sunday, accused of helping a teenage girl run away from home to participate in a sexual relationship. About 8:15 Sunday morning, Hesperia deputies were called to a home in Hesperia about a call of a run-away 15-year-old girl. The girl’s grandmother said the teen ran away from home sometime during the night. Deputies learned that the girl had been communicating with Benjamin Clinton, 19, a lance corporal with 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, base in Twentynine Palms. Investigators say that Clinton and the girl had met online, and had been communicating over a period of time to coordinate their plans for her to run away and join him in a sexual relationship. Detectives contacted the base, and Benjamin Clinton was arrested about 6:15 p.m. Sunday for investigation of sex with a minor, and concealing a minor from a legal guardian, booked into the Morongo Basin Jail, with his bail set at $50,000.
