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State Senate President Ken Bennett and his family are facing a second lawsuit over the much-publicized "broomings" of middle-school boys at a camp in Prescott last summer.

Four boys who say they were assaulted by Bennett's son, 18-year-old Clifton Roy Bennett, and two other junior counselors have filed suit in Pima County Superior Court, each seeking at least $75,000 for pain, suffering and mental anguish.

Ken Bennett on Wednesday said he hadn't seen the civil lawsuits. But speaking publicly about the case for the first time, he defended himself against accusations that he influenced the criminal case against his son. Both lawsuits name Bennett — a Republican from Prescott — and his wife, Jeanne, as defendants because their son was 17 at the time of the camp.

The criminal case has been the target of public outrage that attracted national attention, including spots on cable news, because the Yavapai County Attorney's Office offered Clifton Bennett a plea deal that could result in a misdemeanor conviction and no jail time. The criminal case against Clifton Bennett and his co-defendant, Kyle Matthew Wheeler, 19, named 18 victims — all boys ages 11 to 15, who were attending a leadership camp. Three of the boys are from the Tucson area.

Brooming took place alternately with a heavy-duty flashlight, a cane and a mop handle while the boys were clothed. The exact definition varied, according to Prescott police reports, from touching broom handles to the boys' anal areas to one description of how a boy was held down and the witness said a broomstick was "shoved" into his bottom.

Bennett and Wheeler each originally faced 18 felony counts of aggravated assault. Wheeler also faced three other felony counts of choking campers until they passed out.

But the Yavapai County Attorney's Office offered plea bargains, in which Bennett would plead guilty to one count of aggravated assault and Wheeler two counts, with probation possible. The teens agreed to the deal and pleaded guilty April 3. They are scheduled to be sentenced May 12 in Prescott. Bennett has asked to avoid jail time so he can go on a mission with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Also named as defendants in the latest suit are Wheeler and the family of another teen who also was a junior counselor, 17-year-old Ren McGee, who was 16 at the time of the assaults.

His case is being handled in the juvenile system. He is scheduled to appear on charges of aggravated assault in Maricopa County Juvenile Court on May 8. Houston-based attorneys Stephen P. Carrigan and Kevin W. Liles said they filed the lawsuit in Pima County because McGee lives in Sahuarita.

The four victims and their families also are suing the Arizona Association of Junior High Student Councils, which ran the camp; and the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona, which owns Chapel Rock Camp.

Another lawsuit over the broomings was filed in Maricopa County earlier this month by Tucson attorney Lynne M. Cadigan, on behalf of two local victims. That lawsuit did not name McGee as a defendant, but named Bennett and his parents, the student councils association and the Episcopal Diocese.

A spokesman for the diocese said officials there had not seen either lawsuit. The diocese has stressed that the student councils association was renting the camp at the time of the assaults. The lawyer for the association, Mesa-based attorney Leo Condos, also had not seen either lawsuit. Neither Wheeler nor McGee could be reached for comment.

The most recent suit, filed April 12, says Bennett, Wheeler and McGee overpowered the younger boys to the ground or against a wall, "thrusting a broomstick into the buttocks of each boy with enough force to restrict movement, and, in some cases, to pin them to a wall and cause penetration into the buttocks of each camper."

Wheeler told Prescott police he had been broomed when he attended the same camp six years ago. The younger Bennett said he thought it was all in fun.

On April 3, he pleaded guilty to brooming 18 boys as they were restrained or partially restrained and said it was done to humiliate the campers.

Some victims' relatives, as well as their lawyers, say Clifton Bennett got a sweetheart deal because of his father's position. But on Wednesday, Ken Bennett said he never contacted Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, nor the prosecutor handling the case, James Landis.

"I would not and have not made any efforts to exert any influence over her to get any favorable treatment for Cliff," he said. "I don't appreciate people involved in the case, like Ms. Cadigan, going on national television and making false statements insinuating I had undue influence in this case. It's disappointing members of the legal profession would speculate and act in a way to inflame and mischaracterize the facts."

But Cadigan said the influence likely was more subtle than direct pressure on the County Attorney's Office.

"Power does not work like a sledgehammer. You don't have to pick up the phone and call someone to have influence," she said. "Every criminal defense attorney I've talked to has no other explanation for this plea deal other than the father's prominence."