A former Detroit Police Department sergeant who allegedly led a double life as a serial rapist is being charged with a series of sexual assaults, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said March 19.
Benjamin Wagner, 68, a decorated officer, allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint and raped five women and girls between 1999 and 2003. The victims ranged in age from 15 to 23 at the time of the attacks. The alleged attacks took place early in the morning on the city’s northwest side — all within 5 1/2 miles of Wagner’s house on Bentler Street ― as the girls and women were walking to school, home from work, to the store or a friend’s house.
Worthy urged anyone who may have been assaulted by Wagner to contact the DPD sex crimes unit: 313-596-1950.
Wagner, who joined the department in 1989, retired in 2017. During that time, he worked in various assignments at the DPD, including the 10th and 2nd Precincts, Investigative Operations, the Tactical Services Unit, Criminal Investigations, and Commercial Auto Theft Unit.
He left Detroit and moved to Greenville, N.C., where he was arrested on March 17.
“The alleged facts in this case are disturbing, unsettling and infuriating,” Worthy said.
This story will be updated with more information.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Former Detroit police sergeant accused of being serial rapist
Reporting by Georgea Kovanis and Natalie Davies, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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