Retired police sergeant lived double life as a prolific rapist in Detroit, police say

A 68-year-old retired police sergeant is responsible for a series of kidnappings and rapes in Detroit, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Benjamin Martin Wagner served for nearly 30 years on the Detroit Police force but was arrested in Greenville, North Carolina, decades after the assaults.

Wagner was caught after law enforcement officials finally tested 11,000 rape kits that had been collected from cases between 1984 and 2009.

Prosecutors say Wagner kidnapped and raped five women and girls in northwest Detroit between 1999 and 2003, but they believe there may be other victims.

"The deplorable fact in this case is that the person we are charging has led a double life as a law enforcement officer and serial rapist," Wayne County Prosecutor Kim Worthy said.

The victims ranged in age from 15 to 23 years old.

"The commonalities were they were walking to school or home from work or simply going to a friend's house. These happened in the early morning hours, mostly, all on Detroit's northwest side," said Worthy.

"He utilized isolation and force. He was armed with a handgun in each and every case," she added. "He threatened their lives if they reported, and he did not use a condom in any of the assaults."

Wagner was caught after law enforcement officials finally tested 11,000 rape kits that had been collected from cases between 1984 and 2009. They were discovered in 2009 at a Detroit Police Department warehouse.

Prosecutors said Wagner received several awards and commendations while working as an officer from 1989 until 2017.

Wagner was arrested on March 17 and will be extradited to Michigan.

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Many police departments across the country have stored rape kits but neglected to test them owing to budget constraints or simple incompetence. One advocacy group believes about 50,000 rape kits have gone without testing, allowing the perpetrators of rape to escape justice and continue victimizing Americans.

"We have betrayed at least a generation of survivors in the way that the criminal justice system and the larger public have responded to sexual assault," said criminology expert Rachel Lovell of Cleveland State University.

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