Michigan authorities this week announced an array of criminal charges had been filed against a serial rapist who was active between 1999 and 2003, when he was a member of the Detroit Police Department.
Benjamin Wagner is charged with 14 separate counts, including eight counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and five counts of kidnapping. All of his alleged victims were between the ages of 15 and 23 at the time of their sexual assaults.
“The deplorable fact in this case is that the person that we are charging today has led a double life as a law enforcement officer and a serial rapist,” said Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy in announcing Wagner’s arrest. “These charges are a culmination of a multiyear journey to justice. The alleged facts in this case are disturbing, unsettling and infuriating.”
Investigators contend Wagner, 68, attacked his victims during the early morning hours as they were walking to school, home, or work.
Each victim was approached from behind and threatened with a pistol. Wagner allegedly brought his victims to an isolated location where he raped them without any protection.
It was unclear if the rapes happened when he was on or off duty.
Wagner served with the Detroit Police Department from 1989 until he retired in 2017. He worked in various units, including criminal investigations and tactical services.
The breakthrough in the case came after more than 11,000 untested sexual assault kits were found abandoned in a warehouse in 2009. It has taken years to run those tests but make arrests as DNA matches are found.
Wagner was arrested earlier this month in Greenville, North Carolina, where he retired to. He will soon be extradited to Michigan to stand trial.
Authorities said they can’t charge him with any potential weapons offenses associated with the rapes, since the statute of limitations for that crime in Michigan has expired.
“This case is illustrative of a multi-year journey to justice,” Worthy said in a statement. “Collaboration, patience, determination, and a focus on our survivors was key here. We are a victim centered, trauma informed, and offender focused office. Our survivors were between the ages of 15 and 23 when they were attacked and sexually assaulted.”
Added Worthy: “This case is especially disturbing to us because the evidence will show that a then Detroit Police officer is the rapist of the young women and girls in the cases that we charge today.”
Officials have asked that those who believe they have been sexually assaulted by the former sergeant contact the Detroit Police Department Sex Crimes Unit at (313) 596-1950 and request to speak with Sergeant Jennifer Carlson.
