Former Detroit officer charged with kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A decades-long investigation into a series of sexual assaults in northwest Detroit has led to charges against a former police officer in what prosecutors are calling a major breakthrough rooted in advanced forensic work and renewed focus on untested evidence.

Big picture view:

He was said to have led a double life, someone who was supposed to protect and serve, but instead, former Detroit Police Sergeant Benjamin Wagner, 68, has now been charged with a litany of counts of kidnapping and first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

The egregious allegations were tied to five victims who were between 15 and 23 years old at the time of the alleged assaults. This is why the prosecutor’s office didn’t want this guy out on bond.

Prosecutors say Wagner, who served with the Detroit Police Department from 1989 to 2017, allegedly targeted women and girls at gunpoint in neighborhoods within a roughly 5.5-mile radius of his home in the northwest section of the city, repugnant and prurient allegations that Wagner approached victims while they were walking alone, forced them at gunpoint to another location, and sexually assaulted them. 

Several of the charges are life offenses. However, felony firearm charges could not be filed due to the statute of limitations.

Dig deeper:

The cases date between 1999 and 2003. And for that reason, Wagner’s attorney argued he should be allowed bond, which was denied.

The investigation was extensive, involving rape kits reviewed in Wayne County by a task force. 

DNA evidence initially linked an unknown suspect to the assaults in 2010, but it wasn’t until 2023 that the FBI developed a lead that ultimately identified Wagner. He was arrested in North Carolina.