Whitey Ford
05-20-2024, 12:27 AM
Man who faked his death to avoid sex offender registration caught in Mesa, deputies say
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq70/924/xNLUTZ.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/poxNLUTZj)
A man who was supposed to register as a sex offender faked his own death to get out of it has been arrested, the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday.
Deputies said 50-year-old Benjamin Hollins was convicted as a sex offender in California more than 20 years ago and moved to Arizona in 2018 but didn’t register.
While working as a behavioral health counselor, he reoffended by kidnapping and trying to molest a 16-year-old client.
“He shouldn’t have even been out,” Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb said in a video posted on social media.
He took a plea deal and was sentenced to supervised probation. He had to register as a sex offender every year.
Then, in October, Hollins had a woman file a false report, saying he took his own life by jumping off the Roosevelt Bridge.
A body was never found.
Since Hollins was “dead,” his sex offender registration lapsed.
“Chandler PD didn’t give up. They kept investigating and they found him,” Lamb said.
Detectives reportedly tracked him down to a home in Mesa, where he was living under a fake name.
Hollins was taken into custody on Tuesday.
https://www.azfamily.com/2024/05/16/man-who-faked-his-death-avoid-sex-offender-registration-caught-mesa-deputies-say/
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq70/924/xNLUTZ.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/poxNLUTZj)
A man who was supposed to register as a sex offender faked his own death to get out of it has been arrested, the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday.
Deputies said 50-year-old Benjamin Hollins was convicted as a sex offender in California more than 20 years ago and moved to Arizona in 2018 but didn’t register.
While working as a behavioral health counselor, he reoffended by kidnapping and trying to molest a 16-year-old client.
“He shouldn’t have even been out,” Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb said in a video posted on social media.
He took a plea deal and was sentenced to supervised probation. He had to register as a sex offender every year.
Then, in October, Hollins had a woman file a false report, saying he took his own life by jumping off the Roosevelt Bridge.
A body was never found.
Since Hollins was “dead,” his sex offender registration lapsed.
“Chandler PD didn’t give up. They kept investigating and they found him,” Lamb said.
Detectives reportedly tracked him down to a home in Mesa, where he was living under a fake name.
Hollins was taken into custody on Tuesday.
https://www.azfamily.com/2024/05/16/man-who-faked-his-death-avoid-sex-offender-registration-caught-mesa-deputies-say/