New York — NEW YORK (AP) — A Georgia man accused of sexually assaulting five women during a New York City crime spree in the early 1990s has been linked to cases in which authorities obtained DNA from a discarded cup, prosecutors said.
Michael Benjamin, 57, of Conyers, was arraigned Thursday after being extradited to New York and ordered held without bail because of his high flight risk, prosecutors said.
As officers escorted Benjamin from the New York City Police Department on Thursday, he told reporters that he was innocent of the allegations.
“I didn’t do this! I didn’t do any of this!” He shouted. “Any witness? Any fingerprints? I didn’t do this!”
Prosecutors said the assaults occurred between July 1995 and February 1997, with the attacker entering the residences through a window. The victims ranged in age from 21 to 42 years old, including a woman who was assaulted on two separate occasions. Money and valuables were also stolen from each victim.
Prosecutors said Benjamin was linked to the assaults by DNA obtained last year from a discarded cup he used inside the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office. It was submitted for testing and DNA was recovered matching the time of the assaults.
Benjamin was arrested in Georgia on September 22 and extradited to New York on Tuesday. He faces 17 charges, including sexual assault and burglary charges.
“Even though decades have passed, these cold cases have not been forgotten,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “It is not too late for justice.”
Benjamin’s lawyer, Joseph Amsel, said his client “vigorously, forcefully and loudly” denies the accusations. “Most of these charges fall outside the statute of limitations,” Amsel said.