CONYERS, Ga. — A cup left inside the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office last year linked a Conyers man to five rapes in New York, according to investigators.
“I didn’t do this! I didn’t do none of this!” shouted Michael Benjamin as detectives arrested him.
Benjamin was convicted of attempted rape in 1991 in New York, according to sex offender registry records.
Because of that, he had to register as a sex offender for life.
He moved to Georgia, and over the past 10 years, records show he has been showing up for the required check-ins and photographs.
Then, in May 2024, Rockdale County deputies grabbed a cup he drank out of during a visit and submitted it for DNA analysis.
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New technology matched the DNA on the cup to five rape cases in Queens County, New York, from 1995 to 1997.
In the 1995 case, a woman said a man broke into her home through a window while she slept, pulled a sheet over her head, raped and robbed her.
In 1996, a second woman said a man broke into her home while she slept, covered her head with a jacket, and raped her.
Again, that year, a third woman said a man attacked her as she walked into her front door and threatened to kill her child and husband if she did not comply.
In 1997, two more women said someone raped and robbed them at gunpoint on the same day.
“My client vigorously, vehemently, and vociferously denied these allegations,” said Defense Attorney Jospeh Amsel.
Records show Benjamin has lived in Douglasville, Georgia, and, most recently, in Conyers.
Neighbors there were not ready to talk publicly. Some were surprised. Some were not.
Benjamin has asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation where Benjamin worked while living in the state.
Benjamin has not been charged with any crimes in Georgia.
One man told Channel 2’s Courtney Francisco that Benjamin broke into the gate outside his home for an unknown reason. He did not report it to police.
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