Former SafeNest employee facing charges found dead

A former manager of a shelter for abused women charged with coercing a woman for sex last year was found dead in a vehicle on a highway Thursday.

Benedetto “Ben” Vitale, 60, ran a SafeNest donation center until his arrest last year. He was found dead by Nevada Highway Patrol troopers on Interstate 15 near U.S. Highway 93 about 4:30 a.m. Thursday.

Las Vegas police took over the investigation on I-15 near mile marker 70 and said the death was a possible suicide.

North Las Vegas police arrested Vitale in July on one count each of sexually motivated coercion, forgery and open or gross lewdness. He was accused of pressuring a 24-year-old woman for sex in exchange for signing off on her court-mandated community service hours, police said.

The woman said Vitale attempted to kiss her. She videotaped him with a cellphone while he made other explicit suggestions. According to records, Vitale was scheduled to appear in Clark County District Court hours after his body was found.

His wife reported him missing Wednesday and told detectives he could be suicidal, North Las Vegas police said.

Vitale asked for sex in exchange for filling out the woman’s 171 hours of required community service from a drunken driving arrest in Los Angeles in 2011, police said.

Police also said Vitale illegally signed a time sheet that said the woman finished her community service. Vitale told the woman that if she had sex with him, she would get the time sheet, a report said.

Police said the incident occurred at SafeNest’s donation center near Craig and Losee roads in North Las Vegas.

During his interview with police, he initially denied the accusations but then admitted them and said he was going through a difficult time in his life, the report said.

SafeNest is a nonprofit agency dedicated to helping women who are victims of domestic violence.

Vitale’s job did not bring him into contact with victims of domestic violence.