DNA from discarded cup leads to man’s arrest in 1990s sexual assaults in NY
NEW YORK– NEW YORK (AP) — A Georgia man accused of sexually assaulting five women during a crime spree in New York in the early 1990s was linked to the cases by authorities DNA obtained from a discarded mug, prosecutors said.
Michael Benjamin, 57, of Conyers, was arraigned Thursday after being extradited to New York and was held without bail due to his high flight risk, prosecutors said.
As officers escorted Benjamin from a New York police station on Thursday, he told reporters he was innocent of the allegations.
“I didn’t do that! I didn’t do any of that!” he shouted. “Which witness? What fingerprints? I didn’t do that!”
The assaults occurred between July 1995 and February 1997, with the attacker entering the residences through a window, prosecutors said. The victims were aged between 21 and 42, including a woman who was attacked twice. Each victim also had money and valuables stolen.
Benjamin was linked to the assaults through DNA obtained last year from an abandoned mug he used at the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office, prosecutors said. He was subjected to testing and matching DNA was recovered at the time of the attacks.
Benjamin was arrested in Georgia on September 22 and extradited to New York on Tuesday. He faces 17 charges, including sexual assault and burglary.
“Although decades have passed, these unsolved cases have not been forgotten,” said Queens County Prosecutor Melinda Katz. “It’s never too late for justice.”
Benjamin’s lawyer, Joseph Amsel, said his client “vigorously, vehemently and vehemently denies” the accusations. “Most of these charges are not statute-barred,” Amsel said.
