VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – A former Virginia Beach businessman who is accused of sexual assault is on trial again, nearly six months after the original trial ended in a mistrial.

Benjamin Young, 44, is charged by a former employee with forcible sodomy and forcible object penetration. Just 19, at the time, the woman had worked at Young’s HVAC firm for only a week.

The alleged victim in the sexual assault case took the stand Tuesday afternoon.

She said when she came to the business on Voyager Court to pick up her paycheck, Young led her into his office, where the conversation led to body building and massage. Soon, she alleges, he was sexually assaulting her on the couch in his office.

“I was scared he would hurt me, “ she testified. “I was shocked he was touching me.”

She said she was too shaken to speak up at first. Defense Attorney Kristin Paulding said in her opening statement that Young stopped short of intercourse when the woman told him to stop.
Young knew her prior to hiring her.

He’s a member of Cavalier Golf and Yacht Club where she had earlier been a cart girl on the golf course. The woman testified that Young was never a problem at that club.

A former boyfriend of the woman testified late Tuesday. He said she called him right after the incident, and they met at a local Panera. He said she was shaken and “something was off.”

Her mother and stepfather also testified that they saw her shortly after the incident, and she was shaking and crying as they went to get her a sexual assault examination.

Young expects to testify on his own behalf, as he did in the first trial last fall which ended in a hung jury.

The case is expected to last at least through Thursday.