Georgia Man Arrested in Queens Cold-Case Rapes

Michael Benjamin, 57, was arrested in Rockdale County, Georgia, flown to New York and charged in five Queens rapes from the early-to-mid 1990s after investigators linked him through newly retested DNA and fingerprint evidence. Authorities say the assaults occurred across eastern Queens — including Laurelton, Jamaica, St. Albans and Brookville — and involved breaking into victims’ homes, covering faces, tying or restraining victims, threatening or using a weapon, and stealing cash or jewelry. Investigators say a 2024 reexamination of evidence produced a fingerprint match and that Benjamin’s DNA was reportedly obtained from a cup he used at a Georgia sheriff’s office; prosecutors had pre-indicted DNA evidence to prevent statutes of limitations from lapsing. Benjamin is a registered level-3 repeat sex offender who has a prior attempted-rape conviction from July 1990 that resulted in probation. He was led away proclaiming his innocence and now faces multiple rape, sexual-assault, burglary and related charges as prosecutors praised the victims’ bravery and the cold-case investigators’ work.